Can water save my soul?
by foxiso
Summary: It's a Legends of Oz: Dorothy's return fanfic The Jester is alive. And everyone in Oz isn't expecting what is about to happen. Especially with a new found epidemy spraying around. The clock is ticking and every minute is bringing more changes than ever. (WARNING! Contains romance with OC and some mentionned Dorothy x Scarecrow.)
1. Chapter 1: Long time no see!

It was almost night, and Scarecrow the king of Oz was preparing his night patrol groups with his guards in one of his offices. Until someone interrupted in.

"Who is it ?" asked the king.

"Excuse me your Highness. But someone asked to see you, a young woman." added the voice behind the door.

"Let her in!" ordered the Scarecrow.

Then the guard who was behind the door opened it and let a young woman enters. First, she bowed before the king.

"Your Majesty!" she greeted .

The young lady had dark red hair and blue eyes, she wore a green top and a lighter green long skirt and long bands of tissues were hanging on both sides of the skirt, they had floral motives on them.

The Scarecrow greeted her back by tilting his head in salutation.

"Hello young lady! What can I do for you ?" he asked her.

"I...I ask your permission to see...to...see t...the prisoner." she managed to answer.

The Scarecrow was surprised to hear that, as well as his guards. Why on earth a young lady ask to see the prisoner ?

Nobody ever asked him before !

"Sorry but I've forbidden anyone to see the prisoner, and it's getting dark and late maybe you should ..." he answered her but he was cut off by the young woman.

"Oh please I beg of you ! It's really important ! Just one time only, then I won't bother you again by asking. Please !" she pleaded .

For the Scarecrow there was something suspicious, but the woman's pleading was touching so he sighed and agreed.

"Very well ! But one of my guards will lead you to the dungeon." he said.

"Thank you." she answered as she bowed before him again and left the room.

Then the king picked one of his guards and told him some instruction.

"Lead her to the dungeon ! Watch her and listen to the conversation she might have with him without looking too much curious ! I want to know what she's up to without having her notice of my concerns ! And once its finished report their talk to me !" he ordered.

"Very well your Majesty." the guard answered as he tilted his head in agreement and leaves the room as well .

"Do you think they should plan an escape?" asked the captain of the guards to the king.

"I really hope not, but this is why I want a guard to spy on their talk ! Does anyone knows this girl?" the Scarecrow asked but none of his guards could answer him.

"I want any information you can find about her, especially if she is familiar to him or his family !" the king ordered to his captain of the guards.

"It will be done your Majesty!" answered the captain as he tilted his head down in improvement.

"Good ! But for now let's concentrate on tonight's patrol groups! So! I want a group to follow me in the winkies' country! I'm still doubting about the flying monkeys and I want to keep an eye on their activities! Another group will go patrolling in the Quadlings Country leaded by Gustav over there! And you captain, I want your team to be watching around the munchkin country! Efgin your team will be looking in the Gillikins' country! And the rest of you shall remain here, at the emerald palace ! And especially, I want you to guard the scepter's room, is that clear enough?" asked the king.

"Yes your Highness !" they all answered.

"Good, now any objections?" the Scarecrow asked again but it was silent.

"Good! Prepare the horses! We're leaving the palace after I finished the last checkings!" he said as he leaves the office.

"Yes your highness !" they all answered as they leave too.

But the captain went to the king's direction. He wandered the halls as he soon meets up again with his Majesty.

"Something's troubling you captain Guydor?" asked the Scarecrow.

"That girl your Majesty! I'm afraid of her! What if she steals the scepter?" asked the captain.

"She won't!" answered the scarecrow.

"Oh ? And do you have a clue of what you advance?" asked Guydor.

"It wasn't her attention. I saw it in her eyes. She wanted to see him and only that." he answered. "But I don't push away the possibility that she may asks him how to have it. And it's for that I asked a guard to report me their discussion. And to you some search of her identity." he then continued as he walked.

"I understand your Majesty" added the captain.

"Now all we have to do is to wait that her visit is done then we could patrol." finished the king.

Meanwhile, the lady followed the guard down the dungeon until

"Stay right there I'll warn him." said the guard as the lady obeyed.

Then the guard went to the cell where the only prisoner in the dungeon was. He knocked on the bars with his sword to wake up the prisoner.

"Jester, you have a visit ! Finally there's someone good hearted enough to see you !" said the guard.

But the body of the Jester didn't get up. He just curled up more on himself, still turning his back on the guard like he didn't care. After all who could possibly want to see a wicked Jester who tried to take all over Oz with his sister's scepter ? Now here he was, rotting in the emerald palace dungeon. Of course his curse has been removed, so now he was hatless revealing his messy chestnut hair. He still wears his tight pants and silly shoes. But since he was dangerous, they made him wear a straightjacket, and chained him to a ball.

The guard banged more and louder on the bars "Didn't you hear ? You foolish bratty jerk ! You have a visit ! A young lady !" yelled the guard.

But still the Jester didn't make a move. Then the lady approached the scell.

"J...Jester ...i...it's just me" she said shyly.

Apparently it got the Jester's attention. He only tilted his head up to see if his guessing was correct.

"Oh ! So it's you, Anilozy !" he groaned to her, like she was the one responsible of his fate.

The guard only left them alone but was near to an empty cell. He could hear them (since it echoed).

It was a moment of silence, before the Jester tried to get up.

"It means '_the water that saves Oz_' in ancient Ozian if I recall my lessons." he said in a mock tone.

Anilozy just turned her head to look at the ground before looking back at the Jester who was walking with difficulty ( with his chain ball at his foot) to the cell bars where she stands, and lays right near the bars where she was sit.

"Ahah! What an irony isn't it? You're named after the element that killed my sister!" giggled the Jester making the girl uncomfortable.  
"I...I'm so happy that you survived I...I thought..." she said but he cut her off.

"You thought that I was dead like you heard by everyone else who thought that as well!" he finished looking away.  
"I was worried and hurt to know that you were dead! But then, I heard that they found you and took good care of you!" admitted Anilozy.

"Good care? Look where I am and you tell me that's how they're taking good care of me?" the Jester answered irritated.

"They are scared of you and what you've done!" explained the young lady.

"Don't you think I have noticed? Pff! Why did you came here ?" asked the Jester.

Then another soldier came in the dungeon.

"Because I..." she started to answer, but the guard that came cut her off.

"I'm sorry, young lady! But the king is asking you to leave!" he said.

The young lady sighed she looked at the Jester one last time before leaving accompanied by the two guards. As they left the Jester turned his back to them.

Out, the horses were prepared in front of the Emerald City's gates that were kept by the guard with long moustaches.

"And then he laughed so hard that he almost died with that carrot in his mouth but luckily it went out through his nostril!" explained the royal horse to the other horses who were laughing so hard when he finished his tale.

Then the king and the guards arrived.

"Sshh here they come!" ordered the royal horse to the others who obeyed him and suddenly became serious once again as the Scarecrow and his guards stood in front of them.

"Emerald City horses ready for duty sir!" answered the royal horse.

"Bucephal will you stop telling about the almost death of your uncle for the eleventh time ?" asked the Scarecrow as he got on Bucephal's saddle.

"But everyone love to hear it again and again!" answered the horse. "And so do I!" answered sarcastically the King as he rolled his eyes.

"So where are we off to ?" asked the horse.

"To the winkie country!" answered the Scarecrow.

They both heard footsteps approaching. Bucephal turned back to the direction, and both of the king and the horse saw that it was the two guards and the young woman. The king smiled to her as she looked at him.

"Thank you, your Majesty." said the woman.

The king tilted his head to respond.

"Now I should hurry back home before my family worries." said Anilozy.

"Where do you live ?" asked the Scarecrow.

"I live in the Winkie Country your Highness" answered the young lady.

"Alimyair !" called the king.

"Yes your Highness?" asked the guard as he approached with his horse.

"Take this young woman on your horse with you!" ordered the Scarecrow.

"Oh no no no! Please don't bother yourself for me!" answered this last one.

"I insist!" answered the king with a smile.

"Thank you again." smiled Anilozy as she approached Alimyair and climb onto the horse. And then left.

In the Winkie Country, the Tin Man was in charge of the Winkies people. He helped rebuild some houses as well as getting the old industries back on their feet. But it was hard, there was so much to repair after the wicked witch of the West's reign and yet there was also what the Jester destroyed when he tried to rule, but none of the Tin Man or the Winkies people give it up.

Since they were no more wickedness, hope was in everybody's heart. Even the children weren't sad of their situation, in fact, they were playing around and enjoying themselves and that brought joy to the Tin Man and the Winkies. Now they were bringing a tree that they just chopped down, the Tin Man turned around as he heard kids singing:

"We_ were not happy because_

_Something bad happened in Oz_

_But Dorothy on her way_

_Was going to save the day_

_One witch got a house on her head_

_The second witch melt with water until she's dead_

_And the jester in the wind got spread_" as they clapped their hands together, then, a little girl tickled a little boy and ran away while the boy was chasing her and they laughed.

The Tin Man turned to a man behind him "I don't like children singing such horrors" he told. "They're just children, sir! And for them, good conquers evil even if it implies to kill it!" said the man.

"Yeah but they were also people! And I bet the Jester didn't mean to become ...a bad person!" answered the Tin Man as he and the man put down the tree on the ground.

The man just shrugs and left the Winkies leader, after all it was night and everybody returned back into their homes, even the children that were still playing were called by their parents to return home.

Then they all heard a horse whinnying.

The Tin Man saw that it was the King's night patrol team arriving. At their lead was the King himself and Bucephal.

The Scarecrow moved forward to the Tin Man's direction.

"Missed me already? I thought that you were repairing the Rainbow Mover!" joked the Tin Man.

"No I needed to take my mind off of it a little while. And I have to talk to you!" answered the king while getting off of Bucephal's saddle.

"Oh about what?" asked the Winkies leader.

But then his attention got caught by the sight of Anilozy who got off of the horse with the help of Alimyair.

"What happened to her? Was she poisoned again? Or did she needed help?" asked the Tin Man.

The Scarecrow looked to who he was referring to.

"No! She just came to see the prisoner and since it was getting dark I thought of giving her a ride home, do you know her?" he asked in return.

"Very little! Her name is Anilozy. We've found her half dead in the woods. And I brought her to Glinda who told me that she was poisoned why?" answered the Winkies leader .

"I suspect her! Do you know if she was close to the wicked witch or the Jester?" asked the king.

"All I know is that she was a slave during the wicked witch's time. What do you suspect her of ?" the Tin Man answered.

"Because we've got the Jester imprisoned in the Emerald Palace's dungeon! And we've got back the broomstick but not in one piece." said the Scarecrow.  
"What? The Jester is alive ?! But how and when and why and..." said the Tin Man but the King cut him off.

"The Munchkins find him on their border. And found the broomstick pieces spread in their fields and they warned me." he answered.

"Who else knows about that?" asked the Winkies leader.

"None other than you, me, my guards and the Munchkins. But tomorrow I'll ask an audience with all the leaders. We'll have to discuss of his fate and this young lady asked to see him and I'm afraid that she's up to something unpleasant!" answered the king.

"Do you really think so? She's certainly not looking that dangerous to me!" said the Tin Man.

Then, they heard a scream as they turned around to see what it was about they saw a mother carrying her child in her arms. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man rushed to her.

"What happened?" asked the Tin Man.

"She just fainted in my arms and ... She's boiling hot!" cried the mother.

The Scarecrow examines the child and found red fresh burning spots on her arms. Him and the Tin Man gasped.

"It's the sixth case this week!" answered the Winkies leader.

"What did she do before returning home?" asked the king.

"She...she's just brought me flowers."cried the mother.

"Bring them to me! I want to have a look at them!" ordered the Scarecrow as he took the child in his arms, the mother rushed back to her home.

"Oh! We have to send this child to Glinda as fast as possible!" worried the Tin Man. "Alimyair!" called the Scarecrow.

"Sir ?" asked the guard as he approached.  
"Bring this child to Glinda! There's no time to lose!" ordered the king as he placed the child on the horse of Alimyair who soon covered the child's body with his jacket.

"Sir! Yes sir!" answered the guard as he left with the child.

"It's all my fault!" said the Tin Man as he sat on the tree he brought later.

"No Tin Man! It's nobody's fault!" reassured the Scarecrow.

"But it is! If I was a good leader, I would have found the source of those incidents and destroyed it!" said the Tin Man.

"You're a good leader! Because you care for your people! Of course, you cannot take this all alone you need help and this is what I'm going to do!" answered the king.

The Tin Man smiled at him.

"Thank you" answered the Winkies leader.

"Your Majesty here's the bouquet!" said the mother as she came back and showed it to them.

It was composed of weird yet colorful flowers, some the Scarecrow knew and some not.  
"Thank you." he said as he took the bouquet and placed it inside of the satchels attached to Bucephal's saddle.

"Don't you worry Winkies! I'll find out that source and get rid of it! For now sleep safe and sound we're taking charge of everything!" he then said as he climbs back onto Bucephal's back.

Then he looked at the Tin Man.

"We meet again tomorrow in the throne room!" he said to him.

The Winkies leader tilted his head in agreement.

"And I'll watch Anilozy and her activities!" he said.

The Scarecrow tilted his head in agreement. Then he ordered his guards to follow him to the wicked witch's castle while the Winkies people went back home to sleep under the watch of their leader. Since the Tin Man too cannot sleep, he guarded the winkies and watches other them and their homes.


	2. Chapter 2: Decisions to be made

The next day all the leaders of Oz were called for an audience in the throne room with his Majesty. Even Glinda came, not only to assist the court, but also to give the Tin Man some informations. Meanwhile the Tin Man was talking to the Lion.

"Why did he called us all? Do you have any ideas?" the Lion asked.

"You're not gonna believe your ears if I told you!" said the Tin Man.

"What the straw man is getting married?" suggested the Lion.

"No! The Jester is alive!" whispered the Tin Man.

"WHAT?" yelled the Lion but the Winkies Leader grabbed his mouth while shushing him.

The others spotted them but the Tin Man waved to tell that it was okay so the others just got back to their business.

Once sure nobody would question them, the Tin Man freed the Lion's mouth from his grip.

"How's that possible?" asked the Lion while whispering.

"The munchkins found him as well as the broken broomstick. Now he is kept in the dungeon!" whispered the Winkies leader in response.

"Pff! I'm no doubt voting for his execution!" whispered the Lion.

"I don't think that everyone will agree on that! But that's not him right now who worries me, it's Anilozy!" whispered the Tin Man.

"Who's that?" asked the lion in a whisper.

"A young lady I rescued. And by the sayings of the Scarecrow, she's an acquaintance of the Jester! So I'm afraid that she may finish what the Jester began if she asks him for the scepter!" whispered the Tin Man.

The Lion understood well the situation.

"So what do we do?" he then asked.

"We keep an eye on her! And pray the goddesses that what we're expecting won't happen!" whispered the Winkies Leader in response.

Then the butler of the emerald palace came in and announced:

"Madams, sirs, leaders of Oz. Please take your places. His Majesty is soon arriving!"

Everyone took their places. The winkies leader and the king of animals stood at each sides of the throne.

The Scarecrow arrived, walking to the throne, standing in front of it and faced the assembly.

"Dear leaders of the different parts of Oz, I, Scarecrow, king of all Oz, welcome you into the Emerald Palace once again for our important meeting and declare this reunion open!" he declared as he sat on the throne.

Before he could speak to the others about the Jester, General Candy Apple, the leader of Candy County spoke first.

"Your Majesty! Dear leaders and members of the court! I must say that it is an honor for me to be here on our assembly at the Emerald palace! And I'm also pleased to announce the wedding of my second in command, Marshall Mallow, and that you are all invited to join the festivities!"

Everyone thanked him for the invitations and congratulated the China Princess who was about to announce it but at the end of the assembly. But apparently the General thought it was the most important thing to say first.  
"And I'm surprised that you, your Majesty, is still standing alone on that lonely throne! All of Oz and myself is waiting to see the chosen queen!" added General Candy Apple.

Everyone; except the king (even though he had enough that this was brought up at every assembly), sighed of annoyance at this and complained.

"Seriously General?" complained the lion.

"Not again please!" sighed the China Princess.

But then Glinda cut them off.

"I believe his majesty didn't reunite us all once again to speak of less important things that cannot harm the peace of the land!" she said looking at the Scarecrow.

"Exactly! We have bigger problems to solve than that!" he said.  
The others all looked at him as he stood up and took a deep breath and finally announced:

"The Jester is alive! And is held prisoner here in my dungeon at this very moment!"

Everyone gasped and panicked except for the Tin Man and the Lion who looked at their straw friend with worry.

Glinda didn't look that surprised by the news and didn't complain, not like the rest of the assembly.

"But what this devil is doing here? Have you lost your mind? You know what he did to all the land!" yelled the General of Candy County.

"Of course I know!" answered the king of Oz.

"Then if you know, why is he still here? I say we shall put him in exile in the Deadly Désert!" proclaimed the China Princess.

Everyone encouraged her idea. Except Glinda, who stood silent and looked at the Scarecrow. But the king of Oz wasn't on their side.

"**Silence!**" he then ordered.

Everyone went silent.  
"The Jester his under my laws, but under my protection as well! And I will not tolerate any act of cruelty toward one of my citizens or prisoners! **Do I make myself clear?**" added the King.

The others reluctantly accepted his order.  
The Munchkin leader gave a loud humph to it and added:

"I still wish you killed him as soon as we alerted you!"

The Scarecrow didn't pay attention to this remark and continued:

"I know that you fear the worst and so do I! But we're not cruel people! We're renowned for our act of forgiveness and justice throughout Oz and throughout the lands beyond the Deadly Desert! And killing the Jester will be an act of treachery to what we're applying and what we're believing!"

Everyone were thinking of those wise words.

"If Luurline and the other goddesses spared his life, then there's must be a reason for us to save his soul!" said Glinda.

The others sighed of defeat.

"Very well your Highness! So, are you suggesting any program of reformation for the Jester?" asked General Candy Apple.

"As a matter of fact I am! I will let the jester repair all he destroyed in all the parts of Oz he put a spell on!" said the King of Oz.

Everyone seemed a little bit satisfied by the solutions, they all nodded to one another. And as the final say, General Candy approved in the name of everyone:

"Then with the agreement of my fellow leaders and mine, I, General Candy Apple, accept the offer!"

"Then it's settled!" added the Scarecrow as he sat back on the throne, smiling with content that the dilemma was resolved.

Then the Tin Man spoke:

"I'm here to inform you that a mysterious illness is taking source in the Winky Country!"

Everyone gasped in horror but the Tin Man continued:

"We have maybe a clue that it may come from a flower! So if you see it grow in other parts of the land, then please, warn your people unless if they're not made out of flesh and bones!"

The other leaders nodded to him before starting to talk to each other.

Meanwhile Glinda approached the Tin Man.  
"I'm sorry Tin Man. But concerning those children, I wasn't able to do anything. This illness seems impossible to cure!" she said.  
"What? But what about Anilozy? She was contaminated too and managed to heal quickly!." protested the Winkies leader but was cut off.

"I know! But I don't know how she managed to!" added Glinda.

Then the Scarecrow, who paid attention to their dialogue entered their conversation and walked up to them.

"Wait! Anilozy was infected too?" asked the King.

"Of course! I told you that I found her half dead in the woods!" added the Tin Man.

Glinda looked at them with a worried look on her face.

"You're getting me all worried." she added.

"Glinda! Yesterday night, Anilozy asked to see the jester! And apparently they know each other very well! So maybe they have something to do about this illness!" added the King.

"And this reformation program can help us keeping an eye on them as well! That's what you planned right?" added the lion who joined their conversation.

"Exactly! It may be risky but we have to try!" answered the Scarecrow.

"I'll take the Jester to the Winky Country tomorrow! Like this, I can spy on them and give you any informations!" added the Tin Man.

"Works for me!" added the King.


	3. Chapter 3: way back before!

_Many years ago. Before the Scarecrow's reign, at the time of the wicked witch of the west's reign._

_The Jester sat on the stairs that led to his sister's tower.  
Hidden in the corner, wandering what his life is and what he should have become if he wasn't cursed! _

_Well she was his half sister, they had the same father, but two different mothers! _

_The two wicked witch sisters (of the East and West) didn't took very well the news of his birth and his coming in their home. Their father was a warlock trying to find a magic spell to animate lifeless objects (which later others would find his grimoire and invent the powder of life). _

_But all he achieved was to save some magical energy in a object that we cherish the most._

_The two sisters managed to do it. One saving enough of her powers in her favorite silver slippers, the other one in her flying broomstick. _

_But both of them knew since the last born of their father was a male, he could have been more powerful than the both of them combined. So the elder cursed him cause they were scared! They cursed him to be the fool cause they were jealous! _

_Yes that's what they thought he was just a miserable, lame, joker! _

_The worst is that they made him lost his name! He doesn't remember it._

_He didn't have a clue. Suddenly someone got him out of his thoughts, a young servant woman who carried an empty but heavy cauldron. By the looks of it, she was about to pass out in any seconds now. She fainted right in front of him, letting go of the cauldron who fell in a loud '__**thump!' **__on the ground. _

_She was about to fall with it, but the jester quickly got up and held her back from falling._

_**"WHY YOU LITTLE...!"**_ _the Jester heard as he looked up and faced the look of his green skinned sister._

_"__**I thought I told you to be careful! You little squirming worthless worm!"**_ _she sweared at the unconscious slave lady as she walked towards her brother and the woman. "Perhaps those 50 whippings on your back didn't made you learn your last mistake!" she yelled at the fainted woman in the Jester's arms._

_Then she finally come face to face with her brother. He didn't know why he did rescue this servant girl and he didn't know why he lied to his sister at this very moment._

_"Ah finally I got your attention! I knew by messing with your staff I would be able to get you speak to me face to face, and..!" _

_His sister cut him off. _

_"You fool! Do you know how much important is that cauldron?" she yelled. _

_"Important as any of your monkeys behinds I have to guess?" he answered her sarcastically. She growled at the both of them: _

_"Get out of my view! The both of you! __**OUT!"**_

_He left as he helped the slave on her feet.  
The wicked witch of the West waved her hands in the air and made the cauldron leave the ground and fly to her while his brother and the servant left. _

_Once the jester found himself enough far from his sister, he laid the young woman on the ground and kneeled next to her watching her from head to toe and admiring her in every details. Her wavy red hair, her pinkish lips, her thin fingers, and her pale skin who reminded him the pale people made out of China. But she wasn't as fragile as them. _

_She looked like she was sleeping, her stomach lifted a little at every of her breathings._

_She was wearing a long dark brown skirt with a yellow sleeveless top, around her waist an long white apron was attached it lost its colours and shape with the dirt and the holes on it, she had clog shoes on her feet. No doubt she worked as a slave of this place. He didn't know why but something in his being told him to rescue her. _

_Then she slowly opened her eyes, oh how marvelous they were. They were blue like the water, the element that could kill his wicked sister. No! Not that blue! They were more blue than that. _

_It seems turquoise with a hint of sapphire at the end. His eyes were locked on them with astonishment, she looked to where she were then she looked at him. She knew him, he was that foolish jester she just crossed in the stairs. She heard of him before, but this was the first time she met him. But those golden yellowish topaz eyes she was gazing on told her about him and his secrets, somehow, she knew she mustn't treat him like a threat. _

_She smiled at him to let him know that she knows that he rescued her and she was very grateful for that. _

_Oh! Her smile! So honest, so innocent, so sweet! How should he react to that smile? His heart beated faster as he gulped before he tried to have a gentle smile on his face but it looked more like a grin.  
_

_**"Sister!"**_ _they suddenly heard. _

_The jester looked up and saw like an older version of his fainted rescue, but with brown eyes and dark brown hair. She rushed to them as well as an older man than the two girls appeared and joined the elder sister. As they both appeared the Jester walked away a little because of the stare of that man. _

_It seems to be a warning. _

_The kind of warning that tells you 'You touch her you're dead!' _

_Then the man turned his look to his younger fainted daughter and carried her in his arms while the sister walked behind them. The red headed girl looked at the Jester one last time and the Jester saw them left until they were far away from his view. He will still carry the image of those blue eyes locked on him in his mind. _

_He didn't know it yet but this girl would change him forever._


	4. Chapter 4: New day, new beginning or so

The Jester left the prison early this morning. Yesterday they told him that he would join the Winkies and assist them in repairing their country.

He was escorted by the captain and some guards to the Winky Country.

He wore black shoes, a green pair of pants and a light brown top with long sleeves that ended at his elbows. They gave him those clothes to work with, but he was still chained with handcuffs.

He looked down at the ground as his messy grown chestnut hair hide his view. Then he heard two guards speaking to another one:

"Do you think that those infected by those flowers can contaminate others?" asked one.

"No! Alymair carried one and he is still healthy so there's nothing to really fear!" the other answered.

"Yes but did you see that? Those burns suddenly appearing on this child's body out of nowhere!" the first added.

This detail caught the Jester's attention. He knew someone who was contaminated by the same thing and had developed the exact symptoms.

Then as they arrived they were greeted by the Winkies leader.

Anilozy saw him with the guards and stopped what she was doing and walked toward the Tin Man. The Jester looked at her with contempt as he saw her coming. She frowned at him, in response of his staring.

"Jester, you are here with the agreement of the king and myself to help with the repairs of the Winkies homes! So we'll be giving a day of work to prove yourself worthy of a possible reformation! And if I see or hear about anything going wrong you'll..." the Tin Man informed but the Jester cut him off.

"Yeah yeah I got it! can we get this over with? I mean the sooner the better!" he said.

The captain pulled on the chains of the handcuffs and faced the Jester.

"You better be not begin playing with our anger Jester!" Guydor warned.

"Stop calling me Jester! I have a name." the prisoner protested.

Everyone was a little surprised by it, they always thought that he didn't mind being called by what he was. They even thought that he didn't have a name, so they stood silent and waited him to tell them.

"My name is Philisius Trozz." the Jester answered as he looked down intimidated.

"Very well Philisius. Anilozy! Take him with you and ask your father to give him some work!" the Tin Man ordered as he left to help a group the captain unlocked the handcuffs off of Philisius's hands.

"Will be staying, watching your every move!" Guydor added. "So at any wrong step, we interfer!."

Him and his guard stood there as they watch Anilozy and the Jester leave.

The young woman walked through the crowd to search for her father, the other people glared at the prisoner as he walked past them but he didn't care.

"So Philisius?" Anilozy asked as she looked at the Jester.

"I just remembered it yesterday. It's the name my father gave me when he found me at his doorstep when I was a baby. I was just one day old." the Jester answered.

"And it only came back now? But how could you remember it now if you were cursed to be a jester?" she asked again.

"I was only cursed at 7 years old you know?" he added then he looked at her with no more anger.

she smiled gently at him but as she smiled he looked away. He still was very solitary.

Then she finally finds her father, and her and Philisius walked towards him.

"Oh father!" she called. He turned back and faced her, then as he saw their old threat now prisoner, he felt a bit of anger toward the Jester. "Father! Our leader wants you to give the prisoner some work."

Her father nodded.

"Your sister wants your help! She's at the well, don't worry I'll assist him." he answered as he looked at the Jester with a hint of anger.

Before going, she whispered to her father:

"Please be nice to him or else nobody will want him to help with the repairs."

He nodded, she smiled at the both of them as she leaves them.

Philisius looked at her going, she was so graceful, even in those peasant clothes. Then her father caught his attention.

"You'll carry this concrete bag and bring it to the other group near the castle! Make sure the bag doesn't end up empty there!" he added as he throw the concrete bag to the jester who caught it in time but almost lost his balance duo that it was heavy.

But none of the less, Philisius did what he was told to do. He put the bag on his back, and while holding it some teenagers cut the bag at the bottom.

They thought it was funny to mock a villain.

Philisius turned back to see the damage? there was nothing else he could do to stop the concrete powder to fall out. He looked back at the teenagers who laughed at him. Oh he just gives up!

This reformation program was a lame failure! Nobody wanted him around! They all wished he was dead! He left the bag and the teenagers. He didn't care anymore! They could give him the death penalty to end with it!

He walked away a little, until he knew where to go.

To the place where the Deadly Flowers grow!

Those flowers!

His sister had planted plenty of them enough to kill a country, it was for deadly elixirs and poisons. She would have created a huge contamination in the land of Oz to acquire the throne, if she wasn't stopped by Dorothy Gale that is!

He finally arrived to the place, but to his surprise, the flowers weren't there anymore.  
What ? But this can't be possible! This is where they should have been! Or did they got rid of them already? He's thinking of who could tell him what happened.

"Jes...I mean Philisius Trozz." he heard.

He turned back and saw the Tin Man coming his way. He must have been warned by the Winkies.

"What are you doing in here? Aren't you supposed to help with the work?" asked the Winkies leader a little angry.

"I was! But they don't want me!" Philisius complained. "Everyone wants to see me dead! They hate me!"

"You created that hate! And you can undo it as well! If you get back to work to show them what you're worth!" the Tin Man answered.

He knew that this reformation program wasn't going to be that easy, but the ex Jester and the Winkies have to make an effort, but he knew the first reason behind this.

"And not everyone hates you! Anilozy seemed nice toward you! Enough nice I should say! I'm surprised that she took a first step into this reform..." the Tin Man dared but the ex Jester cut him off.

"Oh I see! Well listen here Tin Can! Between me and this woman, there is nothing!" he added as left the place.

The Tin Man expected such denial. But at least he knew that Philisius didn't came in this part of the woods by accident, since he examined every of his moves and expressions while following him.

He can deduce that there must have been something important here once.

Then the night came. The Winkies decided to have a fire camp between all the villagers and the Tin Man sat among them.

The Emerald City Guards and their Captain were next to him. They saw everyone passing by them, until their target showed up. They saw that Philisius wanted to go toward Anilozy who was sit between her father and her older sister.  
Anilozy saw him coming and so did her family. The Guards wanted to interfere but the Tin Man told them to remain seated.

Apparently, Philisius didn't get the approval of the woman's father to let him talk to her in privacy, so the ex Jester left the family alone while still being watched by Anilozy.

The Winkies Leader spoke to the Captain and the guards:

"This morning, I saw that he got behind the castle, at the opening of the woods! What was there before?"

Guydor answered :

"The witch's forbidden garden your Leadership. Only the witch got there. Well as I heard of."

"And do you know what she used to plant there by any chance?" the Winkies Leader asked. "No. Do you think that the Jester and this young lady have something to do with the new found epidemy?" Guydor asked.

"I don't push away any possibility." the Tin Man answered.  
"This morning captain, me and my camrade here were talking about that child Alymair brought to Glinda. And it caught the prisoner's attention!" the guard added and the other one nodded.

This new information concluded their deduction.

"So, the Jester has something to do with this illness then!" the Tin Man concluded.

"But what the girl has to do with it?" the Captain of the guards asked.  
"I don't know. I tried to talk to Philisius about it and he seems to denial something." the Tin Man added.  
Then a Winky caught their attention.

"Sir! It's my wife, she's not going well!l" the man said to the Tin Man.

The Winkies leader and the Winky peasant left the guards and arrived in a still being repaired house. When the Winkies Leader entered, he saw the mother of the last contaminated child laid down in a improvised bed.

"She's the last person who touched the bouquet! Yesterday she fainted believing it was just some exhaustion! But today she's burning hot and she's feeling weak and dizzy! And those burning marks at her arms... I should have warned you sooner but she didn't want to scare the children!" the man explained.

The Tin Man carried the woman in his arms and covered her with a blanket. He carried her to Guydor. The victim in their leader's arms alarmed the Winkies as well as the ex Jester and the guards.

"Guydor! You have to take this woman to Glinda! She's contaminated by the epidemy!" the Winkies Leader ordered.  
"But what about the Jester?" the Captain asked.

"I'll lead him back to Emerald City!" the Tin Man told.

With that said, Guydor and his men got back on their horses and Guydor carried the weakened woman to Glinda. Philisius jumps at the occasion and got to talk to Anilozy

"How many are infected?" he whispered to her.

"It's the 7th case in this part of Oz!" she answered back in the same tone.

"Anilozy, where are those flowers ?" he then asked.

"I don't know! They tend to grow where they want those later days!" she answered, then she looked at him. "Are you trying to save us?" she remarked as she grinned at him.

"What ? Don't be ridicul ...!" Philisius tried to say, but was cut off when he heard his cuffs closing on his wrists.

"I need volunteers to bring back Philisius Trozz to the Emerald City!" the Tin Man said as he placed back the handcuffs on the ex Jester's wrists.

Anilozy raised her hand up, but her father caught it before it raised up any further.

"I'm going with our leader! You stay here with your sister!" he said.

The man whose wife being taken to Glinda also volunteered. And a third Winky also joined them.

"Alright then! Let's get going." the Winkies leader ordered as he led the path.

Before Philisius left, he turned to face Anilozy she was about to say something but he cuts her off.

"Anilozy! Stop and forget about me!" he said as he left with the group.


	5. Chapter 5: worse by the hours

"So you are positively sure that the Jester is connected to the new found epidemy?" Wiser asked as he worked alongside the King of Oz to find the source and the solution of the epidemy.

The Scarecrow thought that two brains could be better than one to solve this situation, so he asked Wiser to join him in his research, which the owl agreed cheerfully to it.

So now they're in the King's personal laboratory. They already pulled three harmless flowers out of the bouquet.

"Positively sure indeed!" the Scarecrow said as he looked into a book on how to solve one of the flowers into a liquid and what the different reactions meant.

"But that isn't solving our problem! We have to get more informations from him!" the Tin Man added.

"Hhmmhmmm…. and what about Anilozy? Did you manage to get more?" the King asked to his friend made out of tin while putting down the book he was reading.

"Not much but you were right! She and Philisius have known eachother! I heard them over, they knew about the flowers as well! I tried to ask Philisius more about her but he denies it!" the Winkies Leader answered.

"Philisius?" the owl asked.

"It's the Jester's real name. He just remembered it! Looks like his curse is wearing off!" the Scarecrow informed.

"If only it wasn't the only thing about him wearing off!" the Tin man said.

"Regardless…" the king pondered on the odd duo as he walked around the desk while thinking.

"Tin Man! You'll have to ask her more! If she got out of this epidemy, there must be a solution behind it!" the King ordered.

"What? But what if she get scared and run away? Or get really angry? Or get..." the Winkies Leader complained, but the Scarecrow cuts him off.

"Listen Tin Man! The number of victims is growing more every hours! We have to know the gravity of what we're about to deal with!" the King said as he turned around and faced sketches of the rainbow mover.

Then, he turned back to his friend.

"Dorothy won't be here for a very long time! And to honor her, we must show her that we can conquer every problem Oz is getting through! And plus, I think you told me that you dealt well with young women in your past!"

The Tin Man sighed but agreed:

"You're right! I'll talk to her!"

"Good!" the King added.

Then they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" the king ordered.

It was a maid named Jellia Jamb who opened the door and bowed before the king.

"Your Majesty! Forgive me, but Glinda the Good is here! She's awaiting you in the throne room."

The three met up with Glinda who looked really tired as she turned to face them. Wiser, Scarecrow and Tin Man knew that like them, she worked hard to find a solution to the illness.

"Glinda what's wrong?" asked the King in worried as he and his two friends approached her.

"I'm fine! I'm just a little tired! I just came here to ask if I can move in Emerald City with the infected ones! There's no more room in my palace for the next victims!" Glinda answered. "Then I'll give you the biggest chamber in the palace!" the Scarecrow said.

"Some from the other part of Oz are getting infected too! This morning? Lion brought me two of his wolves and yesterday morning, one of the Quadlins children! I'm afraid that this all affair is gaining on us!" Glinda informed.

This new information worried the trio.

"Where is the Lion now?" Wiser asked.

"He's looking for the flower with the Hungry Tiger and the other animals!" Glinda answered.

"Good!" the King added satisfied that Lion interfered on the case.

"Wiser! Continue the research while I'm helping Glinda moving the infected ones here! You can have full access to the laboratory and the library!" the king ordered.

"Yes Scare...! Huh! I mean your Highness!" the Owl answered.

"Jellia Jamb!" the Scarecrow called.

"Yes your Majesty?" the woman asked.

"Go tell Captain Guydor to reunite the guards and to prepare the horses! We're leaving to move the infected ones to Emerald City! And ask everyone to prepare the biggest chamber with beds and medical necessities!" the king told.

"Yes your Majesty!" Jellia told as she bowed and left.

The king and his guards, along with carriages, arrived at Glinda's palace. They were greeted by the lady soldiers and a nurse.

"Your Majesty!" the nurse and the women guards bowed.

The Scarecrow tilted his head in salutation.

"We came here to relocate the infected ones to the Emerald city!" the King answered.

"I'm afraid I have to refuse your offer your Highness." the nurse answered.

"Why?" the Scarecrow asked surprised. "Glinda asked me if I can relocate them to the Emerald city, which I accepted!" he then explained but the nurse cut him off.

"I'm sorry! But I can't let the infected ones infect the entire capital of Oz!"

Now this was something new!

"What do you mean?" the Scarecrow asked.

"Two of my colleagues got infected while trying to cure the sick ones! Now they caught the same symptoms! I'm the only one left! And I'm afraid that our dear Glinda might have caught it as well! I tried to warn her, but she left before I could even speak to her! That thing also can be caught by contact your Highness!" the nurse informed.

The Scarecrow had his mind blown in shock! First the unidentified flowers spreading wherever in Oz! Now this?

But he gained his mind back on the actual situation! He looked at his guards and saw Alymair to be missing. He must have been infected too!

"Guydor!" the king called.

"Your Highness?" the captain asked.

"Go back to the Emerald city and warn the Tin Man! Tell him to inform all the leaders for an important assembly! And go check on Alymair! If he's infected, then he mustn't infect his family nor the other citizens of the city!" the Scarecrow ordered.

"Very well your Majesty! And if Alymair's infected, I'll see to it that he gets to the rooms we prepared for the infected ones!" the captain replied before riding back to the Emerald city.

"Now listen all of you! The infected ones are still going to be relocate in the Emerald city! There're much rooms for more victims, and I'll be nearby to seek a solution to stop all this! Don't worry I'll see to it that the citizens get informed to not approach the sick ones!" the king ordered.

"Yes your Highness!" the guards answered, the women soldiers and the nurse.

The soldiers were going to fetch the sick ones as fast as they could.

"As for you, you're welcome to pursue the evolution of this illness. I'll call for extra help to assist you from all over Oz! the Scarecrow" informed to the nurse.

"Thank you, your Majesty!" the nurse answered as she bowed as she went back in Glinda's castle to help the guards.

But then, she stopped in her track and told the king:

"I'm sorry to inform you, but two children of the Winkies country just died this morning!"

The Scarecrow's face melt of deception.

He frowned and looked away, thinking of the disaster they're in. If only it can be cured in time before knowing more loses!

And how his good hearted Tin friend will react to this tragic news?

Then he looked at the nurse with sorrowful eyes.

"Thank you for the report!" he simply answered.

The nurse too seemed to be devastated by the situation.

"I did all the best I could do!" she then said as she mourned while returning to help the guards.

"Dear Luurline have mercy!".


	6. Chapter 6: Don't play this games!

On this sudden assembly, most leaders have been informed of the situation.

But they didn't know what to do!

This epidemy was gaining on their land!

"Everyone who is made out of flesh and bones will pay the consequences! And the only thing we can do is place them in quarantine?" a leader argued.

"We are looking for a most definitive solution! But we don't know yet what the flowers look like and how and where we can locate them!" the Scarecrow answered. "I know how the situation is gaining on us, but we have to keep calm!"

"Keep calm! But half of Oz is dying! The Winkies leader already lost two of his people's children! How can we keep calm in a time like this?!"

The king of Oz at this remark, couldn't help but turn his attention to his metal friend, whose jaws just rusted by the stream of tears he just had. Thankfully, Jelia Jamb was oiling his mouth joints to allow him to talk and brought also handkerchiefs for him to dry his eyes.

"And where the devil is Dorothy Gale? It is her that we need in a time like this!" General Candy Apple added.

Everyone cheered at his remark.

"Yes! Where is she? After all, you found a way to bring her back! Why are you waiting another meteorological element to bring her for help?" the China Princess argued.

"The rainbow mover isn't currently in a correct state to be working! And I won't be repairing it until we have vanquished this epidemy! My first duty is to my kingdom and to my people!" the Scarecrow answered. "And as Dorothy's friend, I won't bring her here to get infected too! She has a family in Kansas! They would be worried sick if they knew her harmed or worse here in Oz!"

"My king friend is right!" the Tin Man begins as he got up.

His voice still shaken.

"We can't risk the health and well being of Dorothy for us! ….. Even though she is strong, I don't think she would manage to vanquish something like this! And … She wasn't always here for everything, and taught us that we could do about anything if we set our mind to it! ….. I think that we can come out of this! We'll get rid of this epidemy by ourselves once and for all!"

"Boulderdash!" General Candy Apple argued. "You're just a trio of stubborns who got lucky one faithful day!"

The king of Oz sighed and got up off his throne before saying:

"Yes! Yes we are a trio of stubborns!"

The lion and the Tin Man stood by his side as he continued.

"But we learned our stubbornness from Dorothy! And as long as there's wisdom."

"Heart!" the Winkies leader added.

"And bravery!" the King of the forest added.

"..as long as all three of this things exists in all of us and are reminded by those who came by to encourage those qualities, we will be unstoppable! Sure! we'll know embushes and times to bail, but we shall never quit! And its with this, that I support everyday the cost and the weight of the crown obliged to me by the Wizard, you and all of Oz, to become your king and trusted friend! So, for the love for my land and people, I won't stop until I know everyone safe!"

"Me too!" the Tin Man said.

"Count me in fellas!" the Lion added.

The others just stood by, silenced by this monarchical monologue. It was true, they became their most trusted friends! And had helped them so many other times ….

Until they heard a thumping noise.

Everyone looked towards the noise to see Glinda fainted on the floor! Well, she did seemed exhausted, but still!

"Glinda!" the three friends said as they rushed to her.

The Scarecrow lifts her head in his hand to help her gaining consciousness again. She did reopen her eyes, but they were drowsy.

"it's … can …. open a window! Please! … it's hot!" she whispers.

The Scarecrow and the Tin Man looked at each other, because there were the same symptoms from the infected ones.

Without hesitation, the king of Oz checked her arms by removing her sleeves. And to his and his friends horror, Glinda was covered in burned spots on them!

"Oh dear Luurline!" the Scarecrow said as he starts to carry Glinda in his arms.

The leaders were shook and shocked! If Glinda was infected, then who else with enough magic would help them?

"Listen! For now on, Emerald City will be in quarantine until a cure is found! Those who aren't infected will be sent outside the city for the time being. And all flesh beings are to be sent here if they get infected outside! I call out the Assembly for now! I will bring Glinda to rest!" the Scarecrow said as he and the Tin Man carried Glinda to the chamber.

Glinda was put into a light night gown as she was put into a bed by the nurses.

She opens her eyes once again as she feels cold and fresh water on her forehead to cool her down. She saw the Tin Man and the Scarecrow at the end of her bed, worried for her.

"My friends ….. " she started, but she missed energy to continue her phrase.

"Don't worry Glinda. We're taking everything from here!" the Scarecrow try to reassure with a smile.

"No ….. I …..I know you're doing everything …. in your powers to help …" she said, even though it exhausted her.

"Calm yourself Miss Glinda. Everything will be fine!" the nurse said as she finished sponging the good witch's forehead and left.

Once alone with Glinda, the Scarecrow suddenly felt like he was crushed under all the pressure and fear. If Glinda was infected by this illness, how was he supposed to help the other one in the same situation? Sure his brains were his most valuable treasures, but what good do they serve him if he didn't know what could possibly cause all of this? The Tin Man took notice that his friend was about to crack, but before he could say anything…

"Scarecrow….." Glinda calls, getting his attention.

He approaches her, worried for her, but before he could ask, the Good Witch takes hold of his hand even though her grip was weak and smiles at him.

"Never doubt yourselves, my dearest friends…. I have faith in all of you…." she says all sincere. "You will prevail …."

Then, weakened, she returns to rest.

The Scarecrow and the Tin Man looked at her before turning their attention to the cries of the children.

"I'm hot! …. want …. some … water! ….."

"Mom! ….where are you, mom? …..I'm ….. I'm burning! … It hurts! …"

And other pleas for help. It was unbearable to watch!

The Scarecrow frowned, those people needed his help! He didn't have the time to mop around at the unfairness!

"I think it's time that the Jester answers most of our questions! I'm tired of his silly games!" he said as he got up and left.

Later that day, the prisoner was summoned at once in front of his Majesty and his two friends.

Philisius knew that they got wind of what he must know on this epidemy. And he didn't care.

But oh the joy he felt, when he heard about Glinda being infected. Now it was just a matter of time before the epidemy took hold of all of Oz and the people grew desperate, or dead if they were that stubborn.

But if they stick to the first option, he will finally have his hands on the power and the ruling of all the land!

The guards led him to the throne room, where Dorothy's three friends were there. The Scarecrow on the throne, and the two others by his sides.

The king of Oz didn't seem pleased by his mere presence, while the Tin Man was looking hopefully and the Lion doubtfully.

"Ah your Majesty! You wanted to see me? How thoughtful to think of little old me rotting down there all alone!" he started.

"Quit the sweet talk Philisius!" the Scarecrow ordered. "We know that you have something to do with the current illness that is conquering Oz like a galloping blaze! And now we want to hear all of it!"

"Who me?" Philisius answered while pointing at him. "I don't know really! Well it does concern me in a way but … what's in it for me huh?"

"The reformation program! Take it seriously or lose the chance!" the King answered.

"Oh come on! Be more grateful, Scarecrow! Even if you asked the brains, you can't deny you have some heart! I can tell you all there is to know about the Deadly Flowers, or at least how to vanquish it! You already found it, didn't' you Smarty Boy?" Philisius tempted.

But the King didn't seem the bit amused by it.

"The time isn't to jokes, Philisius! We are in a grave situation here! And if there's still an ounce of humanity and good sense left in you, then it's your duty to help your fellows Ozians!"

"Ah! You must be the only one left to think that I might have kept some good sense." the prisoner mocks.

"And what about Anilozy?" the Winkies leader tried.

"Oh for Luurline sake! Leave her out of my life at once! She's not worth my time or anything at all if you ask me!"

"That's a rather rude thing to say for someone who's helping you behind the curtain!" the King added.

"Her? Helping me?" the ex Jester laughed. "She's just trying like all of you fools to 'make me see the light' ! She's just losing her time just like you're doing right now, as the number of victims grow by every hour passing!"

"I'm not losing my time! I'm trying to tell you that now is your chance to join the fight among us! You're being restored to an normal Ozian state! And you shouldn't waste your time denying the possibility to know true happiness among the other Ozians in another way than the previous one! Help us to help others in order to help you!" the Scarecrow answered. "You've seen that nothing has grown from your past foolish reign by only using twisted and wicked ways! So why obstinating yourself with cruel methods toward the land of your birth and the people that live there? We are all ready to give you a chance! And my advice will be to not waste it!"

"Oh and did you learned that from your crush as well? Strawmeo?" Philisius mocked.

The king of Oz frowned at him in anger and try to rise to his feet to go to that fool and 'knock' some sense into him. But the Tin man stopped him way before he could leave the throne.

It's a good thing he did. All that anger the Scarecrow felt was all the pressure of his status and the impatient of trying to reason with a stubborn old foe of theirs, accumulated into one pulse of rage.

The king sighed in defeat.

"Very well! But it's you who made me lose so precious time… and wisdom!" he answered his prisoner. "Guards!" he called and they soon came. "Take back the prisoner to his cell I think we're done from here!"

The guards grabbed the handcuffs. But, before they could leave…

"One more thing, Philisius! ...Don't play this games! Because they will turn on you and once again make a fool out of yourself!"

That was his last piece of advice that he shared before the guards and the prisoner left.

Then the Scarecrow turned to the Tin Man.

"I hope you have more luck with Anilozy than me!" he confessed to his metal friend.

"We'll get to the bottom of this! I promise!"


	7. Chapter 7 (part 1) Need to talk!

In the early evening, in the Winkie Country, Anilozy in her region attire and apron, was cooking for her family while humming a light hearted tune. While her sister was cleaning around the house and her father patrolling for the return of their leader.

"He's coming back!" their father yelled at the top of the sentry tower at the gates of their town and not far from their home.

The girls and the other villagers rushed outside, to see their leader coming back with a black workhorse pulling a chariot.

Something is wrong! Those black workhorses were usually parading for the deaths and mounings! ….

"Oh no!" Anilozy suffocated with horror as she covered her mouth.

And the men, dreaded to see what they were about to see. Until the chariot came to an halt, in the middle of them all.

The Tin Man, their leader, did not dare to cross their gaze.

The Winkies approached and gasped once they saw two tiny coffins in the chariot.

The wives hugged their husbands and the mothers their kids as they restrained tears of fear and grief.

Only the families of the infected ones dared to approach.

A man climbed on board of the chariot to open the coffins. But he and the rest of the families wouldn't dare to open the coffins. Two of their children have died. But no one wanted to see which ones. But they have to know.

As soon as one coffin was opened a mother collapsed in a shriek of despair at the sight of her lifeless daughter while hugging the legs of her husband like she was drowning and he was her only life buoy. The man couldn't help at all, as he too was crying the loss of his daughter.

And for the second child, it wasn't much better. The mother tried to deny on the instant that it wasn't true before cracking up into grief.

And those whose children weren't theres cried in sympathy for the families but also dreading that the next ones could be their own children.

The Winkie on the chariot try to close one of the coffins but the mother grabbed the upper plank out of his grasp yelling:

"**NO! HE ISN'T DEAD! HE ISN'T DEAD! LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE**!"

But she was caught by other Winkies who took back the plank from her hands while she continued to wail.

"**NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…..! MY BABY NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo!**" before she broke in her husband's arms.

The Tin Man couldn't stand it, it was unbearable to watch! He broke into tears once more while covering his eyes. He was so shameful! So helpless!

Anilozy watched everything occurring from afar, griefing with her village and leader. Oz was passing through darkest time again! But this time, it seems that nobody could stop it!

She couldn't bear it! She quickly went to her leader for comfort! But as she approached, the Tin Man raised his hand and stopped her in her track from approaching him. The young Winkie lady froze as he repulsed her, until their tearful gaze met.

She could see how frail, unsure and insecure he had grown from the past hours. She cried again as she gently convinced him to let her approach.

She sat next to him and dried his eyes while he cracked under her gentle touch, who brought him so much memories from his past till now.

He wanted to talk, but his tears have rusted his mouth joints again. But thankfully, Anilozy understood his gestures and grabbed the oil can and passed some oil around the mouth joint.

"Thank you …..!" he whispered to her, before turning his back on her. "I'm sorry, …. it's not against you. It's just …. I don't know if you should build your hopes in me as you leader …. I'm doing a lousy job at keeping you all safe!"

The young Winkie lady understood. But still, he had to tell his people.

Gently, she puts her hand on his shoulder while whispering to him:

"You should talk to them… At least, you have to try!"

The Winkies leader froze before looking at her. Even though she cried, she tried to smile with reasurment.

He gave a small chuckle, he could expect Glinda to have told him that. But yet, that's what Glinda did earlier!

"You're right! ….. I'll talk to them!"

Slowly he rises up into the chariot and confronted his griefing people, who looked at him even though the tears rolled down their cheeks.  
He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Listen! Please!" he started before continuing. "What happened today is the most grave and unbearable situation. I …..I'm doing my best ….. but it appears that my best isn't enough … for what we're up against. And while I let you decide if you still want me or not as your leader …. know that….. I will still try to stop this situation to aggravate more than it already has! So, leader or not, I will still help you no matter what! I won't give up on you! I won't give up until I know each and everyone of you safe! You have my word!"

The Winkies didn't know how to respond to that. But he didn't imposed himself as their leader, they chose him to be their leader! And they knew that even with that, he was willing to help them through thick and thin! He was more than a leader! He was their savior and most trusted friend! And they should keep to treat him as such!

"Then how can we help too, my lord?" the Winkie asked who opened the coffins.

The Tin Man was a bit surprised and taken aback. He wouldn't have imagine that they still believed in him nor trusting him! Even though they were mourning, they looked up at him with hope. They wanted him to keep going. They wanted a hope that only he and his friends could provide them.

Even the families of the dead children wanted to still hold on to the thought that he could find a way out of the epidemy. They all wanted to believe it possible with him.

And with that, the Winkies leader gained back his confidence before instructing:

"The Emerald City is under quarantine for now on! Only creatures not made of flesh and the infected ones can enter! As for the flowers, we're still looking for the culprits of this epidemy! So this is why children, I want you to play with flowers **you know to be harmless! **And if you see any suspicious flowers or plants, then report it to me! And grown up children should look out for the younger children for great measure! And as soon as we found those flowers, we're eradicating them!"

The Winkies nodded in agreement to the plan.

The burying of the two coffins was held into a small ceremony, where once placed in the grounds, two tombstones with the image of Luurline carved or drawn raised above the two holes being closed up by the dirt of the Winkie land while the elder of the village and the families of the departed sang an anthem to the departed and that their souls may find happiness in the realm of light and fairies.

The Winkie leader didn't join the chant since he was unfamiliar with the lyrics (since he came from Munchkin Country), but still watched over the ceremony and mourned the children's death in silence and trying to cry less than before.

He kept watching Anilozy, for now, there was nothing to report about her, she was just joining her people's rituals.

But even then, the Winkie leader knew that she wasn't wicked as the Jester, heck, she wouldn't hurt a fly! But nonetheless, she had informations, he had to talk to her!

So as soon as the ceremony ended, he approached her.

"Anilozy?" he called.

The mentioned lady turned around to face him.

"May I have a talk with you … alone please?" he then asked.

Anilozy turned to her father who gave his permission by nodding to her before going toward her leader.

"Father!" exclaimed her sister to their father as her sister left "I do think our leader might have gotten to the charm of our Anilozy!"

her father chuckled, though he had to admit, it was time for his daughters to get a nice match and have families of their own. It would be nice if their leader was looking to his youngest with this attention, even though he wasn't sure of how it could work, but still, he was a nice man and she was the nicest girl he ever had alongside his oldest.

"Yes my lord?" asked the young Winkie lady as she approached the Tin man.

"I first wanted to thank you for earlier, …. I don't know if I could have managed this if I wasn't reminded!" he thanked sincerely.

"it was nothing really my lord." she chuckled. "I'm sure that you are willing the impossible for all of Oz! Even if it meant losing the trust of others onto you! I knew that you care very much!" she then said.

"oh that's so nice of you!" he complimented, before throwing and getting directly to the real subject. "But I'm not telling it as the main subject!"

The young Winkie lady throwned.

"Anilozy, your visits and attempts with Philisius are getting too noticeable to ignore! The king and I are starting to suspect you and your affiliation to this man! And, it seems that the both of you know about the epidemy!"

Anilozy just blushed a bright red before glancing down at the ground. Ashamed that her leader and the king misinterpreted her intentions. But she had to admit that she looks more of a suspect now than ever, especially with those Deadly Flowers on the loose, causing havoc wherever they bloomed!

"Anilozy!" he called for her attention again. "Know that i don't doubt and shall never doubt your kindness, and I'm ready to back you up in front of my friends doubts! But please … if you know what is happening to Oz, you should tell me! Please!" he then begged.

The young Winkie lady looked at him with hope and tiredness from keeping too much secrets, that with that simple glance she told the Tin Man that she trusted him and she was willing to tell.

She then looked in all the direction, just to be sure that other Winkies weren't listening nearby before facing her leader once again and telling him: "Come with me!"

And he followed her as she led him to a place she knew they wouldn't be bothered.


	8. Chapter 7 (part2) Need to talk!

As they walked, the Tin Man noticed that they were approaching the castle of the wicked witch of the West, and as they marched along its walls, their destination made itself more apparent.

"It's the wicked witch's forbidden garden! Or at least where it once was!" the Winkie leader realized as they came to an alt!

"Yes! … The wicked witch sent me here a little while before Dorothy and the three of you arrived. There were Deadly Flowers! A creation of her own. They appear as bigger Nightshades and would look like them if their purple wasn't spotted with red. Those flowers at the contact of the flesh, will heat the body temperature and boil the body from inside little by little!" Anilozy answered.

The Tin Man was taken aback of realisation when she finally spoke.

"How can you know how they work in so much details? ….Oh! Of course you've been infected too sorry I…." he then said, but the Winkie lady cut him off.

"It's not that. I have been warned of their effect a long time ago." she then said, surprising her leader. "You won't believe it but …. there was a time where me and Philisius were just two lost souls against the world."

She then walked a few steps away from the place while the Tin Man watched her. She then proceeded:

"I still remember it like it was yesterday! The wicked old witch hated me much more than the others, because she believed in the powers of the names. She made me her personal servant and her scapegoat. She always made me do chores that would lead to my exhaustion, or even worse, my complete annihilation! She always had me under her watch!"

"_**You cursed little brat!**_" _the wicked witch of the West yelled while pulling on Anilozy's hair and dragging the poor young lady with her. _

_She was crying in pain by the witch's grip._

"_Please forgive me, madam! It was an accident! I ….I can fix it!" Anilozy pleaded._

"_You fool! This magical ball is made of a peculiar all seeing nome crystal impossible to repair or replicate! __**And you think that I have time to face the Nome king and bring another one myself?!**_"

_Their argument didn't pass unnoticed by the lonesome walls, or at least if it wasn't for any Jester to eavesdrop behind the gray marble column nearby. Ever since he rescued her, he's been interested at the whereabouts of this girl. She's in trouble again! She has broke the magic crystal ball of his sister. It was the an all seeing eye over Oz to her. His sister jealous the Great Book of Records in the possession of Glinda. She tried before to take it! But she had to rely on another poor substitute instead! _

"_**I sometimes don't see why I don't turn you into a pile of dead wood and burn you to a crisp as I preheat my cauldron! You pathetic little worthless thing!" **__she added as she dragged the girl to a coal stocking room and threw her in there violently against the cold black pile of coals. _

_And closed the door on her before locking it tight and placing the key into her pocket before walking away. _

_Then as she spotted one of her Winkie guards, she threatened: _

"_I forbid you to let her see the light of day until I see fit! And if I hear or see anyone getting her any food ….!" _

_She trailed off before leaving. The Jester quickly pressed himself against the wall in order to avoid his sister's rage once she sees him near. Then he peeks at the guards in front of the door where his sister locked the Winkie girl inside. He has been thrown inside in there too, once or twice, and has been avoiding this punishment ever since._

_During his time in here, he took notice of fewer things like a book sized hole on the top which can provide a few light and air. It's condemned with bars but still. So with that, he left and went where the hole on the top should be._

_It was covered over by a flat stone. But it didn't take long for the Jester to remove it, even though he wasn't strong, and stoops above the caged coal stocking room. He heard her crying and sobbing, the usual damsel in a cell routine. …. But it didn't seem right to hear her crying and doing nothing, … well …. that's what he thought._

_He wanted to talk to her, but he first didn't know how to start. He thought of it for a while and started with a rather cheezy word to start a conversation ever!_

"_H .. Hello!" he whispered to her, but it didn't seem to reach her ears._

"_Hello?" he tried again a little louder._

_Anilozy knew that voice. The Jester! The one who helped her once! What did he wanted now? Why was he here? To mock her and making her more miserable than she already is? What was he doing? _

_She really didn't bother to answer him. She didn't found the need to._

'_At least she stopped to cry" he thought to himself. _

"_Can you hear me? Because I can hear you from here! Well …. you've noticed the dim light that appear suddenly …. didn't you?"_

_Even though she didn't answer him, she looked around and realized that indeed, the place was lit a little bit._

"_Hello?" he tried again. "Can you answer me …. please?"_

_But still no response._

_This was getting nowhere! Or she didn't hear him or she refuse to answer him! …. but yet who can blame her? He shared part of the same blood with the wicked witch! Who would talk to him! … But that's the girl he rescued! How can she ignore him like that? Sure! They had little interactions, but still, that was rude!_

_Then an idea crossed his mind out of the blue._

"_Knock Knock!" he said._

_But still no answer._

"_You're supposed to ask me 'who's there?' ! But ok, I'll do your part!"_

_So he continued the joke on his own._

"_Who's there?"_

"_Police!"_

"_Police who?"_

"_Police say something!" he then finished as he heard a soft snort and licht chuckle at the bottom._

_She has to admit, this one joke was funny!_

_But she didn't know why, she wanted to continue._

"_Knock Knock!" the Jester heard as he smiled._

"_Oh! turning the table I see! Ok! It is on! Who's there?"_

"_The old lady!" answered the girl._

"_The old lady who?" he asked._

"_Oh! I didn't know you could Yodel!" she then chuckled._

_The Jester laughed a little too loud on the roof, that when a flying monkey passed by, attracted by the commotion, he had to recover the hole again before sitting on the flat stone and taking a serious posture. When his and his sister lackey's eyes met…_

"_What? I have my own monkey business to work with! So choo! Get off and go grab a banana or something!" he said as he choed the beast off. _

_The monkey rolled his eyes at his shenanigans before flying away. When the Jester checked if it was all clear, he opened the hole again._

"_Ok! I know that one but … you did a pretty good job telling it!" he then said, before instructing: "Look! …. I've been in this room a couple of times! There's a brick at the bottom left of the room that can be taken on and off, inside there are small rations of food and water! Use them carefully until the next time I can come to see you! I'll bring you some food for next time we meet!" _

"_Ok!" she answered him. "Thank you!"_

_He then freezes. Nobody as ever thanked him this sincerely like this! What should he answer her?_

"_Huh ...Hhmm… huh…. See you soon!" he said, leaving the hole uncovered._

_What was he doing?_

"_Ok! Suppose you just meet someone and then you just don't know why, really you don't know why! And you start helping them and caring for their well being out of the blue! How do you call that? No! Better yet! How can you stop feeling this way toward that one person in particular!?" the Jester asked to one of the flying monkeys._

_The poor creature just looked at him blankly before answering in its own language._

"_Argh! You know what? Forget it! Nevermind!" the Jester said frustrated, before walking away from the creature who started peeling a banana._

_He could try the guards. After all, they were more improved sapiens beings, they should know what's up with that._

"_Yo eev' O, my good fellas!" he asked two in front of the main gate, who seemed frozen in stone as they stared at the horizon while staying steady and straight. "So, I was working on this next joke about someone starting to worry about someone else, you know? And suddenly this …..someone starts to care for that other someone and helps them out! You see? How do you describe that?"_

_But yet again, he was met with their silence._

"_Argh! At least the monkey made some noises!" the Jester commented while leaving them, still standing there like statues!_

_What was this feeling? Why was he doing this? What is he thinking about helping her? Why did it bring him contentment when she smiled at him or thanked him ?_

_Why did it bothered him so much in the first place?_

_Maybe he just felt like it without much thoughts, and that's what it was!_

_So why should he worry again?_

_If she's happy then he is happy! And boy does it help him a lot!_

"He helped me a lot during darker times like this! Wherever he was cheering me up or trying his best to maintain me alive! ….."

_The Jester came from time to time, as often as he could. He brought her food and passed it through the bars. But as they touched hands all of the sudden, they both froze, and looked at each other's eyes. It was a moment of unbreakable silence between them as they smiled at each other. But a noise resonating from behind the young Winkie Girl made them end their exchange quicker than before. As soon as she got all the food, Anilozy thanked the Jester once again and she slid down the pile of coal to the bottom. She quickly hides her provisions behind the brick as she heard the sound of the door being unlocked and the Jester quickly placed back the stone on the hole on the ceiling._

_The wicked witch opened the door to reveal her servant lying on the pile of coal and adjusting her view from the outside light._

"_You better get up you lazy thing! There's work to be done!" she ordered her maid._

"_Yes mistress…." Anilozy answered as she left._

"We got to know each other a little better other the course of days and nights, he helped me when I was abused and I helped him when he was. And when the wicked witch left the castle in order to get a new all seeing crystal ball from the Nome kingdom…. We got more free times to get closer. Her sister, the wicked witch of the East only came from time to time to check …. But otherwise we had the castle to ourselves … the monkeys who were watching if we weren't going to rebel didn't mind it either ….. they also had a moment of peace for once!"

The Tin Man couldn't help but smile, touched to hear that some good remained within Philisius …. but something still intrigued him.

"Anilozy." he called, getting the girl out of her stream of memories. "I really don't want to impose but… how can you know so much about those flowers that are infecting the people like they do? Did Philisius told you about them?"

Anilozy looked down a little before returning her gaze on the wall.

"Better than that. He was protecting me from them…"

"_Ok, ok! Stop me if you know this one!" the Jester started as Anilozy tried to stop herself from laughing._

"_One day, a boy was walking down a road when a frog called to him, _

_"Boy, if you kiss me, I will turn into a beautiful princess."_

_The boy picked up the frog, smiled at it, then placed the frog _

_into his pocket. A few minutes later, the frog said, "Boy, if you _

_kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, and I will _

_stay with you for a week."_

_The boy took the frog from his pocket, smiled at it, then put it _

_back into his pocket. A few minutes later, the frog said, _

_"Boy, if you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, _

_I will do ANYTHING you want!"_

_The boy took the frog from his pocket, smiled, and put it back._

_Finally, the frog cried, "Boy, what is the matter, I have told you _

_that I am a beautiful princess, and if you kiss me, I will stay _

_with you and do ANYTHING you want!"_

_The boy took the frog from his pocket and said, "Look, I am a _

_metalsmith student, I have no time for a girlfriend, but a _

_talking frog is much more amusing!""_

_Anilozy burst out laughing till her side got sore. And the Jester joined her laugh right after._

"_Oh! …..still, poor frog princess! She never got back to her former self! But she did won a friend who loved her in her second form!" said the Winkie girl as she calmed down._

_But the sudden réalisation saddened the Jester, which is worrying the Winkie girl. _

"_Yes …. I get it's … a little sad story… I mean ….. maybe she was cursed by a witch and now she's just stuck as a boy's entertainment for the rest of her life!" he said._

_Anilozy realized her mistake to show a different side of the story. _

_She caught his hands and placed them inside of hers._

"_Jester! If you want, at your sister's return, I'll look into her grimoires if there's not a way to undo you curse and…." she started, but the Jester cut her off._

"_Anilozy! Anilozy! Anilozy! I told you before! Only my curse can be removed by a witch and more conveniently the one who casted it! ….. there is nothing you can do for me! …. unless being that boy who wants to be friend with the cursed frog. And that's all I want from you! ….. I can't believe I'm saying this but … you make my curse bearable and worth to see you smile." _

_She looked at him in the eyes before smiling at him, and he smiled back._

"_And come on! You're just trying to hide the fact that you're a little bit sadistic!" the Jester mocked._

_Anilozy was fakely shocked at this new. _

"_Me? Compare me to your sisters and you'll tell me again that!"_

"_It will be like comparing a kitten from tigresses! Almost in common but at different levels!" he answered._

"_Are you daring to call me wicked?" she asked jokingly._

"_Hhmm …. Yes! I guess I am!" he mocked._

"_Oh you!" she said as she pushed him gently._

_And they went on and on chatting, joking, bickering while marching along the castle walls. … Until they arrived in front of beautiful and big purple nightshades with red spots._

"_Oh! How lovely!" Anilozy said as she walked to them and stooped above them. _

_The jester arrived behind her just in time before she can pick one._

"_**Don't touch that!**_" _he screamed as he picked her up and hugged her away from the flowers._

"_What?" Anilozy managed to say as her mind swirls from the sudden embrace._

"_Don't touch those flowers under any circumstances! Do you hear me?!" he insisted.  
_"_But why?" she then asked as she looked at him._

"_Those are Deadly Flowers! It's one of my sister's most deadliest creations! One touch and it will burn and boil you from the inside! And more your body temperature will get high, the more you won't survive the heat!" he explained, before finally looking at her, and watching as fear took hold on her face._

"_But, what does she intends to do with it?" she worried._

"_Isn't it obvious? She wants to conquer OZ!" he then answered._

_Anilozy froze horrified. Already the two wicked witches left (since four of them conquered Oz before two were defeated by the good witch of the North and Glinda) were causing misery and havoc in their respective region, if one of them projected to conquer all of Oz by herself….. she can't bear to imagine what if it would happen._

_Terrified, she takes his hands in hers and panics:_

"_We have to stop her!"_

"_What?" the Jester gasped._

"_I don't know how I … maybe if we burn them we…." she stared, but the Jester covers her mouth._

"_Don't you start speaking nonsense!" he warned coldly._

_This froze Anilozy who's trembling as she looked in his eyes. She didn't see what she could see through the witches eyes…. so…. why doesn't he help her? _

_While trembling, she takes off his hand from her mouth. _

"_Jester…."_

_He looked down, unable to stand her beautiful eyes filled with tears, but he didn't have the choice. If she turned out to be the one destined to vanquish his sister …. The other one from the East will look for revenge against her and kill her. And if the winds carried her words to his sister …_

"_Listen! I already told you! Only a witch can undo her spells! And what can you possibly do? Your efforts won't matter whatever you intend to do, they're just like raindrops! And a drop is never seen again in a water stream!" he said in an attempts to discourage her. _

_But it was for her own good! And it did!_

_Anilozy didn't know what to do. What can she possibly do? She was just a Winkie peasant girl! She couldn't make a difference, even if it costed her life! Who says if her message of revolution would be passed on? Who says she won't be sacrificed in vein? And her family? What would happen to them? And him? The Jester, what would happen to him if she isn't there?_

"_You're right!" she finally said as she looked down, giving in._

_He hugged her once again to comfort her. It was better this way! For her safety! If he knew her dead ….. he can't imagine how he would feel! _

"_Come on!" he then said. "Let's leave this place!"_

"But if you knew, you shouldn't have touched them …." the Tin Man asked. "How did you get poisoned?"

"It's the wicked witch! She finally caught on me and Philisius and she ordered me to pick those flowers for her! For her 'guest of honor'!" she confessed.

"Dorothy?" the Winkies leader asked.

The young Winkie lady nodded.

"But why didn't you confront her?" her leader asked again.

"Because she threatened me to kill my family … and even Philisius if I didn't do as she asked!" she answered.

_The Jester smiled as he saw her coming down the hall, but she looked like she was carrying something heavy in the baskets that hanged around her shoulders. She was struggling at every steps, until she collapsed upon the ground. Quickly he rushed toward her, as he arrived, she was unconscious on the floor and sweating like she was in the middle of one hot heated summer. _

_He froze horrified, before stooping above her and examining her. She was boiling hot on her forehead. But not only that, …. her arms, they were covered in burns and they grew on them in spots like a allergic reaction. She picked something! Something that made her feverish! _

_He looked into her basket, and unfolded the fabrics to reveal:_

"_The Deadly Flowers!" he gasped in horror._

_He flung off the basket as if its mere presence was going to worsen the situation! But he knew that the worst was already done. She already touched them! And judging by the quantity …. he didn't dare to end his thought! He gently lifted her as she opened her eyes once more. She forces a smile upon her tiresome face to the Jester looking at her with an expression she didn't see crossing his face. She saw sadness, joy, tenderness ….. but this? She has never seen him this desperate before!_

"_Jester…" she whispers, but he shushed him by placing his hand, gently on her lips._

_His heart seemed to wither itself as it hurts him so much….. but he forces himself to contain his tears, making his eyes glow with watery sadness as he asked:_

"_You knew what those flowers could do to you! … I explained it! … I warned you! … Then why?"_

_His voice was trembling, and as if the question brought back more gravity to the reality, he started crying with his tears falling upon the boiling body of the Winkie girl._

"_Why?" he asked again as he holds himself back to shake her body to demand an answer. _"_**WHY?"**_

"_I don't choose …. I won't let her touch my family ….. and you…"_

_He froze. She picked those flowers at the cost of her own life to save his own miserable one?_

_He was in total denial! It couldn't be true! It just couldn't be!_

"_She lied! … she would have never hurt me!"_

"_Are you certain about this brother?!" he heard. _

_But instead of freezing still, he grew angry as the tears rolled down his face._

"_Well isn't it quite a pretty picture? A buffoon and the only girl he ever loved, reunited one last and final time!" the wicked witch said as she walked towards them. "The buffon they says "don't worry, I have an idea of what to do!" and then the next morning he dug, dug, and dug until he couldn't no more. He placed his loved one there and told her as she was agonizing in pain: "There! Now you're all set in stone!" she told as she cackled loudly at the end. Enraging her brother as he squeezed his fists tightly, holding himself back._

"_Well! Wasn't that a funny story? Now guards! Get that thing out of the way!" she ordered as she kicked the young girl's body. But as soon as her foot was about to touch the Winkie girl, the Jester pulled it away violently. _

" _**Don't you dare touch her!**_" _he yelled_

_everyone froze. The guards couldn't believe what they saw or eared! Nobody would dare to to contradict or say no to the wicked witch! Even Anilozy still weakened (and getting more and more drained of life force) was impressed….but the worst was the witch herself! Her face seemed chocked and enraged as she shook of anger! _

"_What did you dare to commend me?"_

"_I said!" he inveighed as he got up, still squeezing his fists. "Don't you dare touch her!"_

_There was a moment of silence before the wicked witch burst out laughing, enraging him even more._

"_Oh you're right! I may keep you alive for little while, you amuse me in your pathetic attempt to dethrone me, brother! You think you can do it?Then try Jester! Just try! You mere attempt is nothing more than a raindrop, and a raindrop is never seen again in a stream of water!" she said as she turned around and walked away as she ordered once again the guards to get rid of her ex servant's body._

_He was enraged so much! He wanted her to die! Then he saw a Bucket full of water and grabbed it as he got up and ran toward his sister!_

"_What's a stream if not thousands of raindrops following the same purpose!" he said about to throw the bucket at her._

_But she stopped him dead in his track as she spinned around to face him once again, placing her broom under his chin._

"_I'll strike first before you even manage to wet me … brother! Put that thing away, if you still hold onto your pathetic and feeble little life of yours!" she threatened._

_And like a coward, he put the bucket of water away._

"_There! That's a good boy!" she then said. "But don't think I will let what just happened getting away easily! I banish you! You and your corpse love, I banish you out of this castle! Out! And try to make a living with the reputation we have! You'll see how the world is cold! You'll see! Guards!" she then called._

_And the guards approached them._

"_Chase him out, him and that dying girl! Get them off of my view! Out!" she ordered as she left. _

_The guards grabbed the Jester by the arms and escorted him and the Winkie girl out._

_He walked as he carried her body with him through the nearby woods. Anilozy was burning hot that he felt the warmth of her body even through his costume. She was mostly unconscious because of that but the Jester was keeping his attention of her breathing (the only thin keeping him going) And she was almost….._

"_**NO!**_" _he suddently yelled, refusing to face the fact._

_This woke up Anilozy as she looked up at him. he tights his grips onto her as he watch where he was going, with tears full of rage and sadness coming down his face._

"_I'll find a way! I ….. I'll cure you! There's always a way to undo a spell!" he said determined as he goes on. _

"_And … I will find it! Yes! Me , a jester, … I'll find a way!" he added as a smile grew on his face while he was still crying. But that smile wasn't right! It was croocked and ….. full of madness!_

"_The Jester will find a way! I'll find it! Yes! I shall prevail! I will prevail! I will!" he repeated as he seemed to lose his mind._

_Suddenly, his lunatic monologue full of insane laughter is stopped by the touch of Anilozy on his cheek. He looked down at her, surprised…. to see some fear raising on her expression. _

"_Don't worry, you will not die!" he promised. But…_

"_Jester…. Don't become like her…. Please ….." she whispers._

_He froze at this, before frowning and answering: _

"_I'm not like her! I'm better that she would ever be!". _

_Days have passed and the two of them have taken refuge by a nearby source in an inhabited cave. He tried to maintain her body temperature cool, by sponging her head, but in vein. And at night when he falls asleep, he hugged her and he prayed to not see her dead in the morning._

"I think he stayed! I could have sworn to feel his presence nearby! Maybe crying, praying the goddesses to spare me!"

_Then one night, he heard voices coming their way. Now what? He didn't know what to do! Should they hide?_

…_...But Anilozy couldn't move…._

"_Hey! I see something moving this way, come on!" he heard._

_He panicked. If they found him and know who he was! ….. But Anilozy ….. Well ….. she wasn't any threat and people barely knew her … She wouldn't be in any danger…. Maybe they could help! But what if they weren't here for help?_

_As more and more footsteps could be heard. He decided to hide nearby and interfere if they were threats. As they approached, the Jester recognized some of the Winkies who once worked for his sister. Accompanied by ….. a man made out of white tin!_

"_J ...jes…..?" Anilozy managed to ask in her fainted voice._

_That caught the attention of that tin creature! Who gasped in horror as he called the other Winkies._

"_Oh dear Luurline above!" the man of tin said as he picked up Anilozy in his arms._

"_Jes …!" she tried to call in her sleep._

"_It's ok, madam! You're being rescued are they any person besides you?" he asked, unknowing how much her state was engraved. _

"_Jes ….." she whispers again._

"_Ok people! We have to send her to Glinda very quickly!" _

"_But what about the Jester? With the wicked witch of the west vanquished and him on the loose ….!" a Winkie said before being cut off by the man made out of tin. _

"_I know but listen! This young lady is sick and feverish! We can't let her die out here in the middle of the woods! We have to send her to Glinda! And the sooner the better!" the creature said as he took the lead on the search party. _

_As the Jester looked at them go. Especially Anilozy. She was leaving him again. Just like at their first meeting._

"And the next thing I know, I was waking up in Glinda's palace!" Anilozy finished as her attention turned back on the Tin Man, who looked a little bit disappointed by the conclusion.

"And you're sure that there's nothing else?" he asked gently but Anilozy shook her head.

The Winkie Leader sighed in defeat and of contentment before smiling back at the girl.

"Thanks for your help! At least you gave us informations needed for the epidemy!"

Then he looked at her with a saddened expression.

"And I'm sorry that things didn't work out the way it was intended for you two!"

Anilozy looked down a little before facing her leader once more.

"You know? I still think he can change! Everyone sees him like a threat but ….. to me ….. he's just a child who hasn't grown up yet, and he just got freed unprepared and abused in a world he doesn't know nor understand." she explained.

The Tin man smiled at her.

"Then it's a good thing that he met someone who believes in him!"

She smiled in gratitude, before he looked around and up in the sky.

"Woah! Since when did it get that dark? My time flies by fat in this part! Come on, let's get you home!" he then aid as he leads the way with Anilozy following behind him.

At the Emerald Palace, some of the staff started packing as some of them would be relocated in two days in the other parts of Oz in order to not get infected.

"Please, your Majesty! You have to let me stay! Who's going to keep you informed?" Jelia Jamb pleaded.

"Don't worry, Jelia! Some of the staff will stay and some other non flesh creatures will also come to help with the situation!" the King reassured with a smile. "It's only to make sure that some of you don't get infected from the inside with the sick ones. And it is only temporary, just the time to find a solution!"

The woman wanted to try again, but sighed of defeat.

"Very well then!" she smiled.

"Pardon me your Majesty!" Guydor informed as he rushed and stood in front of them. "The Winkie Leader has returned with the Workhorse! He demands to see you immediately!"

"Alright! Tell him that I'm coming right away!" the Scarecrow answered.

The king entered the throne room and as soon as his friend and him crossed looks, he approached.

"So? Did you manage to find out more?" he then asked.

"I find out the whole story!" answered the Tin Man


	9. Chapter 8: You can't be serious!

"**Bahahahahahahaha!**" Lion laughed as he heard the story by his friends.

The three of them were in the laboratory, Lion brought more victims from the Quadling Country and from his animal kingdom. He was starting to despair, until his friends told him that they found the culprit plant at last. Now to be sure, they had to verify if their information source were true, and they had to explain everything to their feline friend.

But seeing his reaction, they conclude that he didn't believe in such nonsense. They frowned at him, one for being mocked and not taken seriously, the other because the Lion was triggering his tin friend.

"Oh I haven't laughed like this since the story with the Carroll brothers scam* ! The Jester! Loving someone? And that someone loving him back and ready to turn him over a new leaf?" he laughed still. "Oh man she played you like a fiddle! A tin silvery fiddle! Oh you gullible soft rust bucket you! Oh she got you good! Hook, line and sinker!"

Then once he calmed down, he looked at his friends and noticed that they seemed to differ with his reasoning.

"Oh come on!" he groans. "You can't be serious! You really believed in her story as she fluttered her eyelashes to pity her? She's just looking to take your guard down on her while she plans her next strike on the land!"

"She won't do this! I know her enough to confirm that she's not a threat and not our enemy!" the Winkie leader defended.

"Know her enough? Did you know she was the Jester's ex girlfriend until now?" the Lion pointed out.

"...Well … no! But …" the Tin Man tried, but his feline friend cuts him off.

"And you dare to tell me you know her enough? Seriously! She's got all the cards and every decks at her disposal! Once she teams up again with the Jester, who knows what she could do? Perhaps she will just ditch him and take full power to herself!" the king of animals said, enraging the Tin Man.

"You're just making assumptions and false accusations because you barely know her!" confronted the Winkie leader.

"Well it's a good thing I do! Because at least I'm opened to doubt her intentions!" dared the Lion.

'Please not this again! Especially now!' the Scarecrow thought as the two were catch bickering again.

"You're just blinded by fear of what is happening to your people right now! Give her a chance to prove you wrong!" the Tin Man tried.

"Of course I'm scared for my people! Isn't anybody? And with that proof confirming that everything is still connected to that wretched family of witches, I won't stand there and let her proving me right!" the feline roared.

"Oh that's totally you! Acting like a stubborn fraidy cat!" the Tin Man insulted.

"You take that back, you emotional ambulant trash can who always cry at the face of difficulty!" the Lion insulted back.

"How dare you….!"

"**ALRIGHT, YOU TWO BREAK IT UP!**" the Scarecrow yelled as he came between them and stopped them before it got worse. "**THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR!**"

The two calmed down, as their king separated them, even though they were still staring daggers at each other.

The king of Oz sighed before continuing:

"Look! You are both in the right but also in the wrong! For of yet, one crucial element of this story is yet to be confirmed! The Deadly Flower! And if at least this is true, then we can decide if it's worth or not to believe Anilozy and her motivations! But remind yourself of this! If she helps us, she will gain all of Oz's recognition. But if she plots against us, then she'll lose everything!"

This calmed down the tension a little bit.

"All of us are scared for our people! But anger won't help to find a compromising solution! It will only delay by still being stuck in the argument! I know that you're both under pressure and so do I! … But …. both of Philisius and Anilozy will need our intervention! So, before any of you jumps to conclusions, I want you to wait! The solution is almost done concocting! Then we'll see!"

The Tin Man smiles at his friend and nods. The Lion sighed and nods too.

"I guess I've …. been talking from all the pressure! I'm sorry!" the feline admitted. " But it's just … I don't want her to play with your feelings and stabs you in the back right after, Tin Man! I know! I'm underestimating you again but ….. I really don't want things to worsen more as they are right now!"

"I know you mean well, Lion!" the Winkie leader forgives.

Then they heard the striking tune of the grandfather clock (nearby the laboratory's office desk, at an angle of a wall).

"Oh! Already?" the Scarecrow said as he left them. "Wait here fellas Let's see what the solution says!"

Then he disappeared behind the curtains for a little while before bringing a vial full of a strange liquid, standing on its wooden holder and placing it on his desk.

His two friends watched him proceed as he took the vile and approached it near his face. The liquid inside vibrated with holographic colors.

'Hhmm peculiar!' the scarecrow thought to himself, before replacing carefully the vial onto the wooden holder.

He looked through the book he kept on his desk.

His friends just looked at him proceeding.

"Just one question!" started the Lion. "How can you concoct you vials if you can't even go near a fire ? Because you'll need to touch that thing eventually!"

"Simple! I use extended pliers! Like this, I can preheat my vials or concoct any liquid solutions for that matter!" answered the Scarecrow automatically without taking his eyes off the book. "Aha!" he then says, surprising his friends. "Here it is! According to the book: if the plant or flower diluted in the concoction reacts by giving a saturated metallic rainbow color, then the plant or flower isn't a biological creation of nature. It is very highly the work of a spell, curse, alchemy or any other form of witchcraft. Be careful! It can mean that the plant or flower in question is highly poisonous or toxic duo to be an unstable artificial creation. You might not know how much magic was put into its creation. Recommandation: You must know the arts of magic before handling the plant or flower. If not, you should warn the sorceress or sorcerer near you. "

"And if it poisoned the sorceress already, what does it recommend?" asked the Lion.

"It doesn't say!" sighed the Scarecrow .

"Like it doesn't even suggest that non flesh creatures can handle it!" critics the Winkie leader. "But still for an old volume, it was very helpful!"

"I guess it's all up to us!" said the Scarecrow.

"Then again, Anilozy permitted us to go forward! Tin Man, what are you suggesting?"

The Winkie leader sighed, before to finally answer:

"Since everyone from Emerald city is to be relocated, I want to take custody of Philisius!"

His two friends were a little taken aback by that, but he continued.

"I know it's sounds odd, but maybe we should let Anilozy wound their broken relationship again! He seems to be more open around her! Do not worry, I'll keep an eye on them and take every responsibilities if anything goes wrong! I'll be the one to blame in case of catastrophe!"

The scarecrow and the Lion looked at each other before returning their attention on their friend made out of tin.

"Please! I just feel that they're meant for each other and only together they could possibly help us! I trust in the reformation program, and I'm willing to give a small nudge to them!"

"Tin Man …" started the king. "If you think that this is the right call, then I allow you the custody of Philisius! And I'll carry the blame if anything goes wrong! For it was my decision!"

"No! I'm the one to blame!" said the Lion. "I'm the one who pushed you into this for not believing in you in the first place! And I'm even willing to reason you back! ...please don't do this Tin Man! At least not out of pride because I was being a jerk!" pleaded the king of animals.

The Tin Man chuckled at his attempt, for it was not out of pride that he was willing to do this. But he had a plan.

"Don't worry! I got this!"

Then someone knocked on the laboratory's door.

"Come in!" ordered the king.

And Wiser the owl with a peculiar insect creature as tall as them entered in.

"Your Majesty, I hope you can forgive me but …" says the owl before moving on the side and introduced the insect creature "... This is professor Wogglebug. He taught me everything I know! So I took the liberty and the initiative to call for his help to cure the epidemy!"

"The more, the merrier!" smiled the Scarecrow as he approached the creature. "I'm so happy to have you onboard? colleague!"

Then he took the Wogglebug hand and shook it.

"Oh! I'm so thrilled to be working besides his Majesty!" admitted the insect as he smiled in contemptment.

"Professor?" questioned the Lion. "I never heard of such professor in Oz!"

"Well…" started the Wogglebug, as he played nervously with his fingers. "I am quite cultured, and ready to share my knowledge! …..But … I don't have an institution ….. nor work in one due to my physic!" he then admitted.

"It doesn't matter." says the Scarecrow. "If you taught your only pupil well, which I know you did, then you're more than capable to assist the both of us in the search of an antidote."

"An antidote? I thought we were looking for the culprit first!" asked the Owl.

"We had a very good intentioned and reliable source who gave us its identity and property! And this solution over there confirms it!" answered the king as he handled the vial to his feathered friend.

Wiser and professor Wogglebug approached it and studied the vial, or at least the liquid it was preserving.

"Holographic rainbow! Something uncommon and very artificial to reproduce! How did you manage to find it out?" asked the giant insect.

"I followed every instructions from this book!" answered the Scarecrow as he showed the title of the old volume.

"Let's get supernatural! The handy book which will advice you to recognize the needed plants and flowers to your concoctions and brews." reads the Owl.

"Fascinating!" gasped the Wogglebug in admiration.

"Well … alright then we're in! So how do we start this antidot?" asked Wiser.

"No, no, no my dear ex student! The question is not yet how but where!" corrected the Wogglebug.

"Exactly!" smiled the king of Oz. "We'll be on our way to the chamber of the infected ones and take notes of the sickness development! And since you're both organic living beings, I want you to be protected from every parts!"

The both of them nodded and put away their belonging before getting in a more suitable uniform.

The Scarecrow then turned to his friends.

"I count on the both of you to spray the word on the flower's identity to your people! I will then warn the other leaders after my service to the sick ones! I think I'll let Wogglebug and Wiser take other the research for me in the afternoon." he then told them.

"Seems fair to me!" chuckled the Lion.

"We let you to it then!" said the Tin Man with a smile.

"See you tomorrow!" answered their straw friend and king, before his friends took leave.

The three of the scientists arrived in the chamber. The Wogglebug and Wiser's hearts twinged at the moans of pain and cries from the victims.

"Oh sweet Luurline above! I would never have thought to see so many!" gasped the giant insect.

"And it's getting worse by the hours that's passing! Every countries in Oz, every regions and every villages is getting infested by the Deadly Flowers! And now everything rest in our hands!" admitted the Scarecrow.

The two others looked at all the sick ones… until Wiser was taken aback when he noticed one in particular. One he knew too well: Glinda! The good witch of the south opens her eyes as she feels eyes watching her, but nonetheless she smiles at the Owl.

Wiser doesn't know what to say, so he is shocked and disturbed. The Scarecrow noticed him and approached him. His and Glinda's eyes met but the poor witch was incapable to speak under the exhaustion. Her smile was full of hope and confidence, and the king of Oz returns her smile as he walked away with Wiser. Glinda looked at them one last time before droozing off to sleep again.

"I suddenly doubting our skills!" admitted the Owl. "If Glinda is here, then ….. what can we possibly do?"

"We can possibly do anything if we set our minds to it!" answered simply the Scarecrow.

"My dear lord you're right! Come on Wiser, the sooner we set our minds to it, the better are the chance to succeed! We'll lament later! For now there's work to be down!" added the Wogglebug.

The king simply smiled. Even though he doubted, it was just a minor feeling he felt compared to the pride and hope he had to his people.

Hey yo! Foxiso here!

For those who are asking,

this is the caroll brothers scam that Lion mentionned * legends-of-oz-box-office-flop-investors/

watch?v=J5vrkG8AGoI

I want to thank the author FandeBasildeBakerStreet for working on some of the chapters part.

and is any of you guys interested by the deleted scenes of this fic? let me know in the comments below.

See ya all later bye.


	10. Chapter 9: Haunting my thoughts

He had to admit, Emerald City was beautiful. Even if his view was cramped from his prison cell, the few he could see was a sight to behold. He had a view of the street, and the observatorium tower.

The stars and the moon were out tonight. Tomorrow Philisius will be relocated from the palace to be protected from the epidemy, or so he thought.

The observatorium global roof opened in loud mechanical cricks, catching his attention. Apparently, the king didn't join the Oz night patrol tonight. Surely that straw man was taking a break before returning to his duties. Philisius always looked at this rag puppet whenever he came to the tower. He knew the Scarecrow wouldn't be even looking through the telescope, and would rather star gazing at the sky, or rather moon gazing.

The fool! Cause he thinks staring at the moon would bring her back? Twice he had the chance, and twice he failed to regain her. And yet that second time, he was the one who put her in danger ! Just because 'good kingy woved his people' yet felt so weak to protect all of Oz, so he endangered his crush into vanquishing him! Wow, what a smart move for someone who brags his brains !

He remembered how he shoved that fact into his face twice :

"_So Strawmeo! Why exactly did you build this rainbow mover thingamajig for anyway?" taunted The Jester as he approached the wheel where the Scarecrow hung on. _

_The poor being of straw couldn't help but to shiver a bit while facing his enemy head to head._

"_You can't really deny the fact that something did happen between Dorothy and you!" he said before grabbing the straw man by the cheeks and squeezing them as he tilted the king's head in a mocking sing-song voice : "After all, didn't she said she was going to miss you most of all ?"_

_The Scarecrow king glared daggers at him as he freed his sack face out of the Jester's grasp. The fear was replaced by anger. _

"_Just you wait, Jester! Once Dorothy reads my message, she'll know what to do to defeat you!" he said, but the Jester paid no mind as he turned his back on him and walked away towards the leaders of Oz turned into puppets._

"_Oh sure!" he mocks. "That is ….. if no harm comes to her first!" _

_He then engraved with his scepter the label: 'Dorothy Gale of Kansas' under an empty window case display. The king got the idea as he tried to shook free from his cuffs, but only managed to tilt on the side. His friends were horrified as him and tried to free themselves too, but in vein. _

"_Oh calm down! She won't be part of my collection! … Well not if she can't get through the obstacles I'll send on her way here!"_

"_**Don't you dare touch her!**_" _threatened the Scarecrow._

_The Jester froze at this sentence. Remembering a moment of his life when he too said the exact same words for someone …. He thought deserved his trust but backstabbed him when he became what he deserved ! It doesn't matter now ! He would show her how wrong they were and she would finally see Oz like he saw it ! But for now…._

"_Oh! And who's gonna stop me? You?" threatened the Jester as he shoved his scepter in the face of the man made out of straw. "You're in my possession now, your Majesty! And you're not about to leave this dizzying inferno soon!" he laughed as he spinned the wheel, making the Scarecrow scream as the green flames lighted up again. _

_He amused himself a little while longer before leaving in the upper floor in the tower where he kept his sister's crystal ball. And ….. his Anilozy as obedient as she should be. Hanging there on her silk solid strings, looking devoid of life and emotions, she was a wooden shell of her former self. _

"_Ah love! It drives every men crazy! Don't you think so, my little puppet?" he asked as he activated Anilozy._

_The puppet of the Winkie girl approached and said: _

"_Yes, of course it does, Jester! And to think I dared to use this to exploit you and sell you to the enemy! How blind was I! And mean too! Could you ever forgive me!" answered the girl, …. or at least he made her say what he wanted to hear from her._

_It's only when he looked at her …. that his smile faded. This …. this thing looked dead! …. He tried to avoid this fate to her! And now! …. But he couldn't let her free! His plan is almost complete! Maybe after …..no! Not even after! He had to keep her under control! But this wasn't her! But yet why did he care? Why did he care in the first place? Argh! All the twists and turns of his mind!_

"_Hhmm ….ok, you know what? You look rather ...pale, my little …. puppet ?! How about you just lay there on the wall for awhile huh?" he said as he deactivated the Winkie girl and placed her back on the wall._

"_There! You'll feel better! Rest!"_

_He looked down as he walked away toward the window, before looking at the horizon. Then he regained his posture thinking that Dorothy Gale was on her way! He had to stop her!_

But before he could have thought of a plan…..

"Woah!" yelped Philisius as he tried to catch himself from losing his balance and falling but hurting his shoulder against the prison wall in the process. "Ouch! Ah, taught me better than to live in the past…." he groans as he stroke his shoulder.

He was sure that it was gonna leave a mark…. oh well, at least his nose wasn't broken! Groaning as he stroke his harmed shoulder, he got up and continues to observe the king's silly little game. It seems so idiotic to see him gazing at the moon like that, with so much admiration. Especially to embodying it of a girl who abandoned him not once but TWICE!

"That fool! He's lovestruck in every fibers of his straw body!" mocks the ex Jester. "Almost makes me pitying him." as he then looked down on the portion of the street.

He observed the people making last preparations before tomorrow's évacuation, finding it funny to see them hurrying like chickens before a storm. … Until his eyes caught sight on a couple just a tiny bit worried, like they would go through this if never apart from one another. He felt his heart stinging him, having the illusion of him and Anilozy, when the two of them were together under his sister's wrath…. But he departed from the window and sat on the floor of his cell while sulking.

"BLEARGH!" he groaned as he mimicked to belch the word out, getting rid of the imagery. "Almost made me throw up, those idiots!"

But then again …..

She was the one who started it all….

_The sister of his acquaintance was coming to the door where she was imprisoned, carrying food and water. As she approached, the guards blocked the access to the door. _

"_Please sirs, I have to bring her something to hold up in there! She's already cold and isolated in the dark, we can't forbid her from nourishing herself!" pleaded the brunette._

"_The witch ordered us to not let anyone near or in! And forbids anyone to give her food!" answered one of the guards._

"_Oh please have mercy on her! She's already freezing cold in the dark, what more could you possibly want to a child of your own country? She's part of our people, surely you could loosen up while the witch isn't watching!" she tried again. _

"_Even young maiden! The witch sees all in her crystal ball, and as soon as she notices us not doing as told, you'll be asking yourself if just one of us isn't enough the cost of hundreds of us!" answered the guard. "It's safer here to obey!"_

"_So you're saying that just one Winkie for the price of all? What's gotten into you? You've grown to be such cowards!" cried the sister of the prisoner before forcing the access. _

_But the guards throw her down the floor and the food and water got spilled on the ground._

_That echoed through ll the quiet castle._

"_What's going on down there?!" yelled his sister as she arrived down. _

_And she noticed the food, the girl and the guards._

"_I said no food shall be sent to this heinous thing! Thought you could ease up on the rules here, didn't you?" she then said as she walked toward the Winkie girl who cowered as she approached and stepped back as the witch stepped forward to her. _

_She wanted to say something but didn't find what to say and how to say it without enraging the witch in front of her. The Jester couldn't help but grimaced as he saw his sister stepping on the food just to be sure none of it will be served to the prisoner._

'_what a waste….' he thought to himself…. until his sister yelled:_

"_**You must obey me without questioning my authority! Do you hear me? Nobody challenges the wicked witch of the West!**_"

'_Wow! Look how fancy she thinks she is by speaking of herself at the third person!' he then mocked in his mind… until he hears a loud Smack!_

_The witch just slapped the Winkie girl with her broom and knocked her down on the floor where the wasted food was spread._

"_now, clean this mess up until I see this floor jealousing the sun and tries to sparkle as such! Or else I'll see to it to turn you into a pile of rags and burn you on the spot! __**Was I clear enough to you?**_"

"_Y…. Yes Mistress…" cries the poor Winkie servent still shook by the violence. _

_The wicked witch left comptent, as the girl started to pick the parts of food spilled on the ground. Should he approach the sister of his acquaintance? Just telling her that everything was okay? After all they are family! _

_As he approached her, the maiden frowned at him while picking up and cleaning up the floor._

"_Hey…" he softly stated with. "About your sis…." _

_Then she cut him off._

"_I'm not in the mood for hearing your mockeries, Jester!" she coldly answered._

"_Oh no! It's not that! It's just ….." he tried, but she just gave him a cold shoulder._

"_Please, leave me alone! For the last time!" she cruelly warned._

_At her tone of voice, the Jester didn't continue to grab her attention and left. Fine! She didn't care enough about her sister then! He'll just manage all by himself!_

_Whistling down the halls acting casual, he gets himself to the kitchens. And as soon as he is sure to be alone and unnoticed, he enters in. Now that he established a contact with the imprisoned girl, better show her that he is more than just a clown! _

"_Ok now what?….." he mumbled as he thought of what to bring to the Winkie girl. _

_She needed something nourishing and yet something of unnoticeable quantity! If his sister saw him with a big amount of food, she was going to ask what was going on, and he would get caught! So two master words: Little Quantity! _

"_Ok, we'll start getting this here full." he said as he took a little cotton bag. _

_He put some fruits, and a piece of bread then took a small vial and filled it with water. Once his little bag full, he quietly left and got to the rooftop of the coal stocking room cell._

_Once he opens the trap again, his acquaintance showed up as she climbed the pile of coals to the top._

"_What happened?" she asked in a whisper. "I heard my sister in front of my door! Is she ok?" _

"_She's fine. …..She just wanted to bring you some food but got noticed! By the way, I brought you some!" answered the Jester as he shows the little bag to her._

"_Is she with you?" asked the imprisoned Winkie girl._

"_... No ….. She had to clean up the mess. …..And I tried to tell her about your whereabouts but …. she didn't want to listen to me." he admitted hesitant at first. _

_What's gotten into him? He didn't have to tell her the whole truth! Yet he did! What an imbecile he was making of himself!_

"_Hhmm….here have lunch!" he then said as he changed of subject very quickly and handed her the food and the water through the bars._

"_She must thinks that you don't want anyone any good with costume and your job's privilege." simply said the Winkie servant._

"_Huh! Tell me about it!" puffed the Jester with annoyance in his tone of voice. "I'm much of a prisoner as you are in those clothes and job, but hey! Nobody cares, that's the only thing important! Everyone has a good laugh and despises you! And you, you just smile and go on with the show! While being tormented for entertainment!" he then answered scornfully._

_The Winkie girl looked at him with disbelief and pity._

"_...if you don't like it ….. then why don't you stop it?" she asked gently._

"_Oh believe me I would but …. it's complicated …." he answered._

"_How so?" she asked again.  
_"_Oh! It's such a long story!" he answered again._

"_...Well ….. I'm stuck in here for who knows how long ….. and I love long stories!" she encouraged._

_It was his turn to look at her with disbelief. Was she really willing to listen to him about his past and how he ended up like this?_

_And with a genuine smile, she confirmed that he could go right ahead and tell her everything. He chuckled a little before saying: _

"_Where do I even begin?"_

"_Well … like any story! From the start!" she said calmly._

_He smiled at her._

"_Ok! So imagine a time before when Pastoria's father was still ruling over Oz!" he started._

He remembered. He told her everything that day! His mother abandoning him at his father's doorstep! How he was a busy father trying to create the powder of life, how he was related to both of the wicked witches of the East and West and how they cursed him in this destiny. How they got rid of their father and how they accessed to power until where he was now. Laying here, near her prison on the roof, telling her everything.

And she listened, asking questions in between, just …. being interested in him. And how saddened she was after she heard all of it. But he didn't care now that he had someone as much as a friend in her. So now, after his tale, it was her turn to tell hers to him.

And so he had learned that her mother was a Quadling woman who, after meeting her father, moved to the Winkie Country. Her father came from a long line of metal carver and goldsmiths and silversmiths (some even worked for the Crowns of past rulers of Oz according to some), but he was a umble tinsmith hobbyist and builder. Him and the Quadling woman soon after their marriage had her sister, and she was just five years apart from her. When her mother was pregnant with her, she one day wished by a grotto who had the most beautiful turquoise colored waters and musical echoes in its creeks, to have a daughter with the bluest of eyes that it matched the source of this grotto and she would name her Anilozy.

He froze when he heard her name, and understood why his sister was so hard on her... But after some seconds of thinking it through, he thought he shouldn't care about prophecies and such. After all, if he knew how to steer this path in another direction, maybe nothing would happen. And continued their meetings until she finally got released.

From then on out, they tried to join each other whenever they could.

The look on her face when she wanted to intend his wound from a previous mistreatment but find another costume underneath the other one. They laughed about it but … she was so kind. How could …. How did they happened? Why did they happened?

And to think he was hoping and acting like an idiot, when his sisters dead and their "killer" gone….

_Arriving in front of his late sister's castle with his large gift box, The Jester couldn't help but grin. Now that his two abusers were out of the picture, He was finally going to get what he waited for so long! Maybe later he could break his curse. All that was left was the flying monkeys still bound by the hat of his sister in the castle. It would be easy as pie to tame them to his control. _

_Once in front of the gate, he puts down the gift box, knocked on the door as loud as he could before jumping inside the gift box. And now all he had to do was to wait. He knew they couldn't resist. Everytime he did this trick on them and every time it worked like a charm. A little minute later, the door creaked and seconds later, he felt being lifted and journeying through the stairs. Inside, he is shaken from left to right and vice and versa, making it uncomfortable but he holds in the need to groan in complains. He can't get himself noticed, he had to wait the perfect moment!_

_At last, he is put on the ground and wait for one of them to get near by sniffing the gift And like a signal, he popped out like a jack in a box, as he popped down the top of the box and made them jump scared, surprised and confused!_

"_Oh honey! I'm home!" he shouted._

_The monkeys jumped and screamed and flew away from him before looking at him and making their usual monkey noise. Jumping out of the box and rolling on his back to end getting up on his feet, he came face to face with the leader of the "floop" (as he likes to call it by fusing the words "flock" and "troop" together) and says :_

"_Thanks for taking care of the castle while I could get here!" _

"_Not crazy about what you did to the place though! " complained the Jester while observing the room at the top of the tower, before walking to the throne and taking his sister's hat (the hat that bounded the monkeys to her servitude). "Especially considering that my sister had bad taste to begin with." he grimaced as he looked at it before throwing it far behind him. "But now that the wicked witch is gone and I'm in charge …." he then said as he approached the crystal ball and uncovered it. "..It's time for a new makeover!"_

_The jester then walked toward a desk where one of his sister's grimoires was open still. He turned to the monkeys and says:_

"_You'll find that my taste are … sophisticated!"_

_He then turned back on the grimoire, looming over it with adoration and hunger for power._

"_But some things I'll definitely be keeping! And also, unlike my sister, I won't melt at the sight of water!" he claimed._

_But this water word reminded him of one name: Anilozy! _

_Furiously, he closes the grimoire shut before turning once again to the flying monkeys who looked at him intrigued. _

"_Now listen up, you monkeys! Other than letting her be melted, you served my sister well! And you're going to do the same for me!... other than letting me be melted … of course! …." he ordered them._

_The entire floop looked at him intrigued, or wondering what in all of Oz he was talking about with melting or not melting, and this, enraged him._

"_**ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME YOU!?"**_ _he yelled at the leader monkey, who only answered him in monkey talk._

"_What?! I don't speak monkey! I'll just assume you said "yes master!"" he added as a strange glowing showed through his eyes. _

_A mix of madness, anger and sadness combined in a unholy felling of craziness as he soon proclaimed: _

"_That's what all of Oz will soon be calling me! I will no longer be ignored!"_

_Then the Jester turned to the mohawk haired monkey leader and yelled: _

"_But first! You will retrieve something else that belonged to my dearly departed sister, and is rightfully mine! And you will find it in the Emerald City! Now go!"_

_As the order resonated throughout the room, the flying monkeys saluted militarily before taking off into the night sky. … But the Jester grabbed the leader of the floop by the tail and pulled him back to his level. Threatening him with a glance before ordering him:_

"_They'll get the job done! But for now there's another thing I want you to do!"_

_The monkey frowned in concern and landed on the edge of the window._

"_Go! Fly into the night! And find out the whereabouts of a Winkie girl who answers by the name of Anilozy! You'll find her as you'll remember that she has the eyes as blue of the purest water source and the hair as red as blood! And when you return, I want to hear all of it!" the Jester ordered before his pawn monkey took off. "Fly! And don't disappoint me!"_

_The mohawk haired monkey nodded before taking off to the Winkie Country._

_Almost an hour later, the other flying monkeys have retrieved his sister's broomstick. The Jester was contempt and excited as he took back the most powerful artefact of the wicked witch of the West and auditioning it to his father's orb, the Trozz's power was becoming all his! Soon, he'll be no longer be a pathetic buffoon at the bottom of the joke and of society, but the ruler of all of Oz! …. with possibly the most beautiful of queen by his side._

"_What is taking so long for this stupid bird brained macaque to come back?" he complained as he waited by the window the arrival of the last flying monkey. _

_The others went back at repairing the castle for some or just checking for fleas while grooming themselves._

_Suddenly, he finally sees the silhouette of the floop's leader coming back to the as soon as the monkey enters by the window…._

"_Ah finally! Took you long enough! So? Your report!" demanded the Jester…. Only to obtain a monkey talk of "Oohooh Ahah!" which agaced him very much. _"_**NO BUT SERIOUSLY! CAN'T YOU TALK OZIAN FOR ONE MOMENT OF YOUR SO PUNY AND UNIMPORTANT LIFE!?**_" _he yelled. "How could my sister understood you? That's beyond me!"_

_As he tried to find a solution to get the information, he sees the magic crystal ball that the wicked witch used to spy on all of Oz! He saw her spying on some rebels or even the Wizard himself!_

"_Maybe this could work…" he mumbled to himself before approaching the crystal ball._

_As he poses his hand on the crystal ball, it seems to come back to life and the Jester orders:_

"_Find me Anilozy! Show her to me!"_

_And the crystal ball obeyed, showing glimpse of Glinda's castle, then showed the Winkie girl on the verge of dying. Her breathing slow, still sleeping and sweating from the poison effect. The jester couldn't help but to stroke at her imagery showing in the all seeing crystal._

_He had to go to her! He must cure her!_

_In the Quadling Country, everything in Glinda's palace was at peace and quiet. The last nurse in Anilozy's room left for the night, letting the window open for freshening up the air and …. trying to maintain the fever under control. But, even though she doesn't say it, she thinks that this Winkie girl brought here by the Tin Man was a lost cause. The best they could do is trying to ease the pain for the girl to leave this world in peace. But still ….. they thought they were still going to be those two wicked witches left and look how that turned out to be! So maybe there was a cure to this, but what ? She couldn't stop thinking of it as she walked along the hall, unknowing what was going to happen a moment later in the sick girl's room._

_A while later, the Jester climbed the window and slided quietly in. Looking around and finally setting his eyes on her. The poor thing, she was in worse shape than when he left her being taken. Those idiots seemed to haven't find how to cure it nor a clue on how to stop it! And they were just wasting her time! He had to take the matter into his own hands! Now!_

_He approached the sleeping body of the Winkie girl, looking at her with sadness and concern before lifting up her head to his chest and hugging her, feeling her weak breathing and fever through his costume. He sighed, not really knowing what he was about to do, but he had to try! For her, who's been there for him no matter what._

"_I'll cure you, don't worry. I'll fix you right up!" he whispered to her before laying her back on her pillow as gently as he could. _

_Then, he grabbed back his scepter and took a deep breath before raising it above Anilozy's body. _

"_Let's do this!" he encouraged himself before waving his staff while chanting: "For you who caused my misfortune ….. and wrecked this maiden's destiny ….. erase your unholy existence ….. and from your grasp, set her free!"_

_A dim light escaped his scepter and covers the body of the young Winkie girl. He smiled as he thought that this should have worked! ….. But …. when the light stopped glowing and her body was still uncured_

_"Oh no…." he gasped horrified. "No no no no no!"_

_He tried to deny it. But the fact was there! He had failed her! He had failed his promise! He had failed to cure her! _

_The realisation hitted him like a ton of bricks as he cried of despair before taking her once again into his arms. And crying desperately: _

"_You can't do this to me!" as he pulled her cooling down body to his chest and cried his heart out. "You …. you promised me!… Please don't leave me!...I can't ….. not without you…..."_

_He was despaired, shook and lost. He didn't want to understand, it had to work! She just had to wake up! But it didn't! And she was dying, …. right in his arms!_

_Unnoticed by him, the burning red spots on Anilozy's arms were fading away slowly as her body temperature cooled down little by little. He did it! He truly did it! But he was blinded by what he believed to be a failure that he didn't wait long enough to see the results. _

_The door knob rustled as it turned from left to right, getting his attention. He had to go! But …. He looked at her one last time with tears in his eyes, before convincing himself that there was nothing he could do for her and to leave. He left and slided down the open window, unnoticing Anilozy frowning and finally waking up. Like she just woke up in the first time in weeks from a bad dream._

"_Jester?" she called in a whisper as she just woken up._

_But the door opened and revealed the beautiful and powerful Dame Glinda: the good witch of the South._

_Anilozy is taken aback! Glinda here? Why was she here? Or rather what was going on around here? All she could remember is being banished out of the wicked witch's castle into the dark forest of the Winkie Country … with ….._

"_Hello my dear!" smiled Glinda to a very frightened Winkie girl. "It's alright!" she assured her. "You're out of harm and danger, you've been rescued by your new leader, the Tin Man!" _

"_A Tin Man?" answered Anilozy, confused. "But …. the wicked witch!" she then protested._

"_She's no longer here to hurt you, my child. My! You slept well until now, my dear! You've been poisoned…. but it looks like it's wearing off, and I'm happy for you that it did! We were starting to worry for your sake." admitted Glinda with a genuine smile._

He remembered that he passed two years to mourn her before striking onto people who deserved it for not having the guts to interfere on time, not solving their problems, just …...minding to their own business, and letting them rot!

Now, after two years of crying her lose, he was back to his plan! He destroyed the lands in MunchkinLand, kidnapped the mayor, made him his puppet and so on! There was no stopping him now! It was the turn to the land of Oz to fear him now!

That was the good old times! Th time when he finaly got the respect he deserved and a court at his feet! If only that little plague from Kansas didn't come meddling in his business! Why would no one respects him as they should!? How could they want him to be like any other Ozians if they didn't treat him as much as a sand grain? It was to late now… he needed them way before all of this happened!

Suddenly, the door to his cell is opeing, getting him out of memory lane. as he looked up, he sees the Tin Man (accompanied by some of the guards).

"Philisius, we're about to evacuate!" says the Winkie leader.

Morning already?

Then he heard the global roof of the observatorium moving again. He turned around and saw the king leaving with the roof closing shut.

One rooster started to crow as the morning sun rises: "Cocka doodle doo! The sun is rising and peace still prevails on the land of Oz!"

Decidedly …. Anilozy haunted his thoughts last night.


End file.
